Of Phantoms and Wizards
by The Acorn Snake
Summary: Danny Fenton was not having a good day: First day of school, Walker, his parents, and a magical world. After escaping through a portal Danny discovered a new world - a dark, magical world. A world with a different type of danger for him. DPxHP crossover
1. Murphy's Law

_**Disclaimer**_- I am in no way making any money off of this. This is done purely out of enjoyment. All characters from Danny Phantom belong to Butch Hartman and Nickelodeon respectively; as do all characters from Harry Potter belong to J. K. Rowling.

Chapter 1

Danny Fenton was not having a good day and it wasn't even noon yet. The first day of his sophomore year at Casper High was bad enough, right? No, Murphy's Law decided to take effect and, for good measure, give him a hard slap on the face. Well, with Walker deciding to try attempting to throw him in jail- again- it was more like several punches and a few ectoblasts rather than a slap.

Murphy's Law - Anything that can go wrong will go wrong; in this case it happened to be right before school began. Walker had appeared; triggering Danny's ghost sense, meaning a fight soon ensued. As per usual, when dealing with ghosts, witty banter was exchanged and a few degrading comments slipped in here and there while fighting. Typically, Danny's parents showed up shouting _Ghost!_ All went according to the usual fight scene until Danny's mom, Maddie Fenton, brought out the Fenton Bazooka and shot the two fighting ghosts, which thankfully separated them, but consequently brought them into the depths of the Ghost Zone.

This is what brought Danny into his current situation.

"ARGGH!" Danny screamed out of frustration. Today was really not his day. "Why, why, why? Why couldn't Mom have transported me to a part of the Ghost Zone I actually know? Why couldn't it have been dad who had the Fenton Bazooka?" Danny ranted, cursing his parents, in Phantom mode, and currently floating around the Ghost Zone – lost.

Danny looked around for something he could recognize - anything! He would have rejoiced for joy if he even saw Skulker's lair, said ghost present or not. Sadly, everything looked the same as he viewed the same spooky green swirls and floating purple doors of the Ghost Zone. Nothing looked even remotely different except for several of the patterns on the doors. He could understand why the ghosts went to the human world; he would if this was all he had to live in day after day in his afterlife.

After a while, as he continued to fly around searching for clues as to where he was, Danny began to worry. He had been in the Ghost Zone for two hours at least if not more, as there wasn't any way to keep track of time, and he was still lost. _At least there was no sign of Wal-_

"There you are, Punk." Walker's voice sounded from behind him, cutting off Danny's thoughts. Damn Murphy and his stupid law.

Danny whirled around to be greeted by the sight of Walker, grinning at him in triumph. He turned and started to fly away when Walker's hand grabbed his arm and caught him in his endeavor to escape. "Not this time, Punk. I'm bringing you in and you are going to serve the time you owe me," Walker growled at him.

Danny was charging up an ectoblast, getting ready to fight if he had to, and was about to make a reply when a flying ball of fur and claws came from beside him, throwing Walker off him and into the distance and several doors.

"Friend Danny, okay?" A heavily accented voice asked him from what looked like a wolf-man with glowing green eyes and tattered clothing.

"Wulf!" Danny cried out in joy at seeing his wolf friend. "Thank you. Man, that was a close one! I should have changed back," Danny said while patting Wulf on the shoulder. Danny had come to the conclusion that when in doubt in the Ghost Zone, human was the better way to go. "What are you doing here, Wulf?" Danny asked in an afterthought, wondering what his friend was doing out in the apparent middle of nowhere.

"Wulf heard friend Danny and come to help. Wulf help Danny get home." Wulf gave him a wolfish grin. Danny could have leapt for joy – he was going home! - but the next five words stopped him cold.

"You aren't going anywhere, Punk." The voice of Walker informed him from behind. As Danny and Wulf turned, they saw Walker had returned, and he had brought some ghostly reinforcements.

Wulf was growling beside him, claws extended, bent down ready to spring and fight, but Danny, who was tiring, had an idea. "Wulf do you think if we could get away from Walker for a few minutes you could open several portals so we could confuse Walker and escape?" Danny whispered into his friend's ear. Wulf paused for a second and nodded. "Okay then, here's the plan: First we have to get away, at least a few minutes, and then you open a couple portals and we escape through one and you close it behind us. After waiting a bit we'll go back into the Ghost Zone and get back home. Will this work for you?" Danny rapidly asked after laying out his plan as Wulf, again, nodded.

"Enough chit chat Punk. You and your furry friend have an appointment with a nice cell waiting for you back at my prison; any last words?" Walker smiled as his ghost police force held up their ecto-weapons.

"Yeah, one: NOW!" Danny shouted and took off with Wulf right behind him, flying in a zigzag pattern and swerving around the floating doors trying to lose Walker.

The chase, which ensued, only went on for a few minutes as they lost Walker pretty easily, but it felt like ages to Danny. Danny couldn't help but worry as terrible thoughts plagued his head. _Will my plan work? Will I escape? Please let this work. Sam and Tucker have no idea where I am; what if I never see them again?_ Thoughts flashed through Danny's head, the last one tugging painfully at his heart. Tucker and Sam- his best friends- might come looking for him. He hoped they would stick to areas they knew and weren't dangerous; he didn't want to lose them to this world.

"Wulf," Danny called out to his friend as he slowed down, "open several portals now and quickly." Wulf nodded and, with his neon green claws, tore open three different portals each looking like the other. '_Now which one to choose?'_ Danny thought quickly, knowing time was short and he had to make a decision fast. _'Let's go left.'_

He shot through the portal hoping that wherever he went it was modern. He didn't want to face dinosaurs, or samurai, or any other sort of creature or person not of this century. Danny only wanted to get away from Walker and his goons; he didn't want to jump from the frying pan into the fire.

Walker watched the halfa jump into the portal and he was furious. There was no way he was going to let that Punk escape. He lunged at the left portal, pushing Wulf out of the way in the process, and followed Phantom. He could see Phantom just ahead of him and grabbed onto his leg, causing both of them to fall out of the portal and into… mashed potatoes? Walker looked at his surroundings briefly, noting that he and the Punk were in some sort of large dining room and there were many people in what looked like large, black dress coats; Walker didn't have time to admire the scenery, the ghost Punk had begun to fight.

...

September first was always a busy day for the staff and students at Hogwarts. Students rapidly trying to cram information on the train, meet with friends and make new ones, and show some fancy spell work if someone was pissing you off. Teachers, on the other hand, were mentally preparing themselves for the new school year. For them this meant preparing for the Weasley twins, getting course work together, and mourning the last day of their freedom.

Soon students spilled into Hogwart's Entrance Hall after their rides in the carriages, all of them smiling and laughing with their friends and housemates. The spacious entrance way broke off into the Great Hall, which was shining with candles as it was at the beginning of every year. The Hall was a wondrous; the ceiling was enchanted to reflect the beautiful night sky and the candles that floated above the four house tables shone with brilliance. Transparent ghosts were milling about, waiting for students to arrive to talk to and greet. The whole scene had a homely feeling, in a strange magical way.

Harry Potter was glad to be back in this atmosphere. He had missed Hogwarts and all the secret passageways, ghosts, and lessons - even Snape at some points! Summer for him was always torture; this year was no different especially with the lack of information until he had arrived at the Order of the Phoenix's headquarters at number twelve Grimmauld Place. Harry had gotten to see Sirius, his godfather, who was the closest thing to family he had, it was what made his summer bearable. He had finally gotten some information on what Voldemort was up to, or more what he was likely up to. Voldemort had been very quiet during the summer and this worried everyone. However now was not the time to think about this.

"You okay, mate?" Ron Weasley, Harry's best friend, asked concerned at the far-out look in his friend's eyes.

"What? Yeah, I'm fine. Just glad to be back," Harry replied giving Ron a grin as they walked to the Gryffindor table to sit down and watch the sorting before dinner.

"You do realize this year's going to be much more difficult than last year?" Hermione Granger, Harry's other best friend, asked as she walked beside them. "We have OWLS coming up and we need to start planning for them now." Hermione, as always, was very passionate about learning and school was one of her top priorities.

"Yes we know Hermione. You've been shoving that down our throats all summer," Harry said exasperated, while Ron rolled his eyes.

"I wonder how many Gryffindors we'll get this year?" Ron wondered aloud while waiting for the sorting to begin, and more importantly for the food to appear.

"I'm more worried about who's going to be the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor. I'll bet Dumbledore has not had an easy time of finding one," Harry said while scanning the staff table. _Is that who I think – no it can't be! _Harry thought despairingly when his emerald eyes landed on a woman wearing a pink cardigan over her robes and that unforgettable toad like face. "I don't believe it. Dumbledore got that Umbridge woman for a professor!"

"Who?" asked Hermione.

"Umbridge was at my hearing," he explained. "She's one of Fudge's lackeys," Harry frowned at the unpleasant thoughts of what occurred during his hearing with the Ministry. He had been cleared of all charges with a clear majority, but she was one of the ones that had voted against him and that bothered Harry greatly.

"She works for the Ministry then?" Hermione muttered, and like Harry, frowning. "You don't think –"

Hermione was cut off, however, by the entrance of Professor McGonagall leading the soon to be sorted first years towards the staff table where the Sorting Hat currently resided.

The Hat began to sing, as was custom to do so every year, but this year it was different. Its song was not just about the Houses with the loyal Hufflepuffs, the cleaver Ravenclaws, the cunning Slytherins, and the brave Gryffindors, but a song of warning; warning that danger was near and soon to be present, that they must unite or all will fall. Whispers echoed throughout the great room from ghosts and students alike, as none of them could remember anything like this ever sung by the Hat.

"Has the Hat ever given a warning before?" Hermione asked Nearly Headless Nick, the resident ghost of Gryffindor, anxiously.

"Yes, when the Hat feels it is necessary," the ghost replied and would have gone on further had the Sorting not begun.

After 'Zeller, Rose' had become a Hufflepuff and Dumbledore had made a small speech the plates filled with food and everyone began to eat. While Harry and Hermione took reasonable sized portions, Ron had piled his plate with food a mile high and began to shovel into his mouth.

"Nick you were saying something about the Hat giving warnings before, what triggers it?" Hermione continued to question the ghost.

"An ow kunnit knof ifiza at?" said Ron, mouth full. Which roughly translated, if you were knowledgeable in the language of 'Speaking While Mouth is Stuffed Full', into 'And how can it know if it's a hat?'

"Ah yes," Nick started to reply while looking slightly disgusted with Ron's atrocious table manners, "it can tell because-

Nick never got to finish his explanation when a portal opened above the Gryffindor table and two figures came crashing out, interrupting him. The two figures, one on top of the other, had landed in the middle of the table, spraying Ron with mashed potatoes.

Several screams of "What's happening?", "It's the Dark Lord!", "Aliens!, and a "Bloody Hell!" from Ron rang through out the entire Great Hall with professors and several students, like Harry, whipping their wands out.

"Get off me Walker!" One figure cried out, the one with luminescent pearl white hair, shocking neon green eyes, and was dressed in what seemed like a black body suit with white gloves, belt and boots to match.

"You aren't getting away from me this time, Punk. I'm already the laughing stock of the Ghost Zone for letting the halfa escape me." The other figure growled out. This one seemed imposing with a skull face, hence the Dark Lord fear, black cowboy hat, and white suit.

The white haired one had charged up some strange green energy and had blasted the other intruder. The professors and students alike were at a loss on what to do for neither had seen anything like these two before. The two glowed with an unearthly light, were doing what appeared to be wandless magic, and were flying – without broomsticks! – around the Great Hall without apparent interest in their current surroundings. It was then when something else came out of the still open portal above the table, and this one came with screams of 'Werewolf!'

The white haired one looked back to see who had arrived, and a look of realization came over his face when he saw all the people surrounding them. This was not a place to fight. A blue glow started to appear in his hand and his eyes turned a frosty blue, and the temperature in the room dropped a few degrees, before he went intangible while this Walker-creature shot an energy blast of some sort at him. This action surprised many people wondering what in the bloody hell these creatures were, and the ghosts just watched, mouths hanging open, at what they were witnessing.

The white haired one shot the blue energy at his enemy, freezing him solid in a block of ice. "Wulf!" He had called out to the green glowing werewolf thing. "Get this idiot on ice back into the Ghost Zone and get out of here. There are too many humans to fight and I'm running out of energy fast.

"Get Sam and Tucker to the same place and re-open the portal back here as soon as you can." He shouted and hurled the block of ice, which was starting to shake, to the glowing werewolf apparently named Wulf.

Wulf nodded and threw the ice through the portal going in after it. After that the portal disappeared as quickly as it had appeared only leaving the white haired being left.

The white haired teen, as that is what he appeared to be, floated down and landed on the floor of the Great Hall with a small _thump_. Suddenly all the professors and most of the students had their wands out, trained on him, looking for any signs of hostility.

The teen put his hands up, looking confused, and opening his mouth a few times. Then, finally deciding on a reply, the voice came out of the open mouth with an American accent and a slight, ghostly, echo to it.

"Erm… why are you all pointing sticks at me?"

...

Hello all! I am The Acorn Snake. This is my first fanfic and all. I've written before, but this is a fresh start so I'd love some suggestions and crit.

A few notes: Phantom Planet has not happened, nor will it. As you can see Danny has ice powers, therefore Urban Jungle has had some part of this but you can basically ignore most of season three. Harry Potter is cannon up until Goblet of Fire. I will be taking things from Order of the Phoenix, but not everything will occur.

So a Danny Phantom and Harry Potter. I've read a few, liked most of them, and said 'Hey! Why not try my own?'. So here it is. Yup. I can't promise consistent updates, because in reality this took me a while to write and finals are coming up, but once this is posted I can assure you I will be writing more as it will give me motivation.

Thanks to my wonderful beta Sev, a.k.a. LoveBob, and a plate of cookies for everyone. Drop off a review if you like it, or even if you don't. I won't withhold cookies from anyone!


	2. Out of Time

_**Disclaimer**_- I am in no way making any money off of this. This is done purely out of enjoyment. All characters from Danny Phantom belong to Butch Hartman and Nickelodeon respectively; as do all characters from Harry Potter belong to J. K. Rowling

Chapter 2

"_Erm… why are you all pointing sticks at me?"_

Danny was confused. Who were these people and why did they think sticks were threatening? He seemed to notice most of the people were looking at him with looks of curiosity, fear, or puzzlement. That made him feel better, he wasn't the only one confused as to what was going on.

"These are not sticks, as you call them. They're wands," an elderly man, who was standing at middle of the large table up front, spoke. This man, Danny concluded, was British by his accent, and very odd. He had a long white beard, long white hair, and what looked to be periwinkle blue dress-robe of some sort.

"Wands? Like as in magic wands?" Danny laughed, so hard in fact he began to float again, twisting in the air a bit. "You really expect me to believe that?" another chuckle, "that is too funny." Danny seemed to be the only one who thought that however.

"My dear boy, I fail to see how this is funny. Who are you and why are you here at Hogwarts?" The man was now frowning as were some of the other people around. Danny noticed that all of them were still pointing these _wands_ at him.

Danny shuddered. Something was… different about this guy - all of the people around him really. There was a certain power surrounding them. "Uh… I'm Danny Phantom-

"So it is you! Danny Phantom! I never thought we would actually ever meet!" A voice with a slight echo said excitedly from behind Danny, effectively cutting him off.

Danny spun around as his ghost sense went off. There, behind him, were four ghosts that all smiled and radiated joy at him. The one who had spoken to him had a very odd outfit on - it looked very old - with a large ruffle around the neck. The others also had the wardrobe of someone who had jumped out of the past, but in all looked very different from one another. The oddest fact to Danny, however, was that they all looked intangible, not solid like the other ghosts he knew back home in Amity Park.

"Uh do I know you?" Danny asked, getting more confused by the minute.

"No, you would not know me. However we," the ghost gestured to the others beside him, "all know you!" The ghost with the large ruffle floated over and, surprisingly, shook Danny's hand. "Every ghost knows about you. The young halfa who defeated Pariah Dark and saved us all from enslavement! I cannot even tell you how grateful we are for that."

Danny just stared as the ghost shook his hand. _'I'm that well known? For Clockwork's sake why can't I ever have a normal life for once?' _"Your welcome?" was all Danny could manage to say while his head was spinning with thoughts and unanswered questions.

"Dumbledore," the ghost began, speaking to the odd man, Dumbledore apparently, behind Danny. "You need not worry. He does not work for the Dark Lord. He means no harm to Hogwarts."

...

Dumbledore sat down in relief and let his right hand, wand still held in it, rest on the table in front of him, just incase he was in need of it. Sir Nicholas had vouched for this Danny Phantom and Dumbledore trusted his judgment. The ghosts of Hogwarts protected Hogwarts to an extent and cared about the wellbeing of the inhabitants, excluding Peeves who loved to terrorize the students. But Sir Nicholas' reaction had brought many questions to Dumbledore's brilliant mind.

"Sir Nicholas," Professor McGonagall started, "why are you thanking him if you've never met him before? How can you vouch for him?"

"Well you see Danny Phantom in our world is…," Sir Nicholas the ghost struggled for a moment to find the appropriate words when his eyes landed on Harry. "Danny Phantom is like Harry Potter in yours. Or like you Dumbledore, really. He saved us from Pariah Dark, a tyrant king of the Ghost Zone. He ruled long before I died but stories of his reign of terror scare even the young ghosts today.

"Right now I doubt he even knows where he currently is, and certainly does not know of our world. He is _powerful_ Headmaster, but certainly not evil. " Sir Nicholas finished his explanation.

"And _he_ is right here, listening." Danny said with a frown. He hated it when adults, or Jazz for that matter, talked over his head like he wasn't there.

"I'm sorry Mr. Phantom, but right now we are in times of distrust and worry. We are being cautious right now as something… evil has risen again." Dumbledore said gravely, thinking about what Sir Nicholas had said.

As he spoke, there was mixed reactions from the students and several professors. Some glanced over to Harry, others just snorted and shook their heads, and a few looked worried at Dumbledore's words. Really worried.

A _hem hem_ that sounded like someone was trying to clear out their throat however interrupted anything else that might have been said. "I do believe you are mistaken Headmaster. As the Ministry has stated there is no proof as to anything you or Mr. Potter," at that the women in the pink cardigan glanced and sneered slightly at Harry, "claim, with regards on that subject. There is no evil, as you put it, in Britain and nothing to worry about."

"Professor Umbridge," Dumbledore began as the Hall broke out into whispers, mostly about the announcement of yet another Defense Against the Dark Arts Professor. "I am not claiming anything, just cautioning."

As the two began to talk, or what may be better described as a debate, the whispering grew.

"Who do you think he really is?" Harry asked Hermione while keeping a wary eye on this Phantom character who was currently watching the Head table. Harry was sitting down, as were all the other students, but he was definitely not relaxing. He had had enough surprises from the previous years to know not to let his guard down. Constant vigilance as Moody would say.

"I dunno. Think Nick really knows him?" Ron replied, finally freed of mashed potatoes, and looking towards the Head table.

"I trust Nick's opinion of him. The ghosts of Hogwarts protect Hogwarts to an extent and can't allow harm to come to the students or staff. I read about it in Hogwarts, A History." Hermione explained, looking and listening to the discussion being held by the Headmaster and new Professor of DADA.

"What about Peeves?" countered Ron, "he certainly allows harm to come to us."

"Peeves is a poltergeist, Ronald. There is a difference." Hermione replied in that you-should-know-this tone of voice.

"Really, how was I supposed to know that?" Ron replied irritably.

"What is the difference between the two, Hermione?" Harry asked. He didn't know there were different kinds of ghosts. Then again, he didn't know a lot about the magical world. _'Maybe I should take Hermione's offer to study about the wizarding world sometime,'_ he thought amusedly.

"Well," Hermione started, "Ghosts like we have here at Hogwarts are not able to hold, pickup, or grab anything materialistic unless they have a very strong will to do so. They generally can only float around and talk to people within a limit. That limit is their 'haunt' and after a passage of time they will not be able to leave it unless the 'owner' of the land or area they haunt gives them permission to do so. Currently it's whoever's Headmaster is the 'owner' of Hogwarts and the surrounding area. Poltergeists however are much different; almost their entire purpose of existing is to cause mischief and trouble. It's just the type of spirit they are. Poltergeists are much stronger than the average ghost, in a spiritual sort of way, as they can pick things up or make things float and become intangible when needed. This, of course, is how they can make trouble so it only makes sense that Poltergeists are like that." Hermione finished, slightly breathless at the end of her explanation.

As Hermione finished it seemed as if she had grown a larger crowd of listeners. Most of the Gryffindors around the trio were also listening, as were some of the Hufflepuffs who were sitting behind Hermione at their table.

"Then what exactly is Phantom? He doesn't look like anything like Peeves or Nick or any of the ghosts that I've ever seen." Dean Thomas said, adding his two cents to the conversation.

"Maybe he's a demon."

Everyone looked at Neville. The usually shy boy blushed under everyone's attention. He wasn't used to everyone staring at him and started fidgeting and getting flustered.

"Well I-I mean my Gran always said that they were powerful and that they could travel dimensions. They can take a human appearance too."

Everyone looked thoughtful for a moment when Hermione discarded the theory. "Demons have to be summoned; unless you're implying that Ron or Lavender, who is sitting across from him, have been practicing the Dark Arts then I highly doubt he's a demon."

"I doubt I'm a demon too. I'm pretty sure I'm a ghost."

Everyone in the circle of Gryffindor fifth years jumped and Neville fell backwards off the bench at the sound of the American accented voice above them. The Gryffindors were so engrossed in there conversation that they had completely forgotten about Phantom.

At the sound of someone falling over and movement at the Gryffindor table everyone, once again, had their wands out pointed at the unknown ghost.

"Whoa whoa whoa!" Phantom held out his hands, "I seriously didn't mean any harm. I'm just saying I'm not a demon. Do I have the right to free speech here or not?"

"No, Mr. Phantom currently you do not," the pale Potions Professor, dark robes billowing snapped at him. "We have no idea who you are and we do not know your intentions, even if Sir Nicholas vouches for you."

"Severus," Dumbledore warned his Potions Professor.

"No Dumbledore I will not have it. While you and the Ministry are currently debating whether or not the sky will be pink tomorrow we have someone here who may be a threat to us now." Snape glared at Dumbledore and, in his private opinion, the 'Ministry's puffed pink toad', otherwise known as Professor Umbridge.

"I'm sorry to have caused all this trouble," Phantom began, looking tired. "I was just trying to escape from Walker. I really didn't mean to come here on purpose. Portals from the Ghost Zone can lead anywhere. And when I say anywhere I mean _anywhere_," Phantom emphasized.

"What exactly do you mean by that?" Dumbledore narrowed his eyes, the gears in his mind turning.

"What I mean is," Phantom floated to the ground, landing and slightly wobbling, the day's events and excitement finally catching up. He had been in ghost mode for almost five hours and he suddenly realized how tired he was. "What I mean is that it can go anywhere. With Wulf opening portals I'm not entirely sure how it works. It could be random or it could be that every area in the Ghost Zone leads to somewhere specific. The natural portals however can be a lot trickier. I've gone back fifty years into the past and I've gone back two thousand at least. You never really know." Danny said as he sat down in between Gryffindor and Hufflepuff's tables. "It's a gamble. Looks like I got my wish however."

"And that would be…?" Dumbledore left the question relatively open.

"That I got somewhere fairly recent and there are no dinosaurs," Phantom chuckled. "You don't have dinosaurs do you, with your magic and all?" He chuckled again, eyes fluttering between open and close.

"No I assure you we do not have any dinosaurs at Hogwarts," Dumbledore said softly as he viewed Phantom tiring, not knowing what was happening and keeping his wand at the ready. He would rather be safe than sorry.

"Good. All I ask of you and your school is to please keep it a secret." Danny said, knowing he couldn't escape in time; knowing that his dearest secret was about to be revealed to a whole school of strangers; knowing his _time_ had run_ out_.

"Keep what a secret?" Snape said, his eyes narrowed and glittered dangerously.

"This." And with that he fell unconscious. Two rings of bright, neon blue circled his waist. One was moving up and one was moving down. When they had finished they left a very different Danny Phantom on the floor of the Great Hall, a very human looking one. The Hall exploded with noise.

Over the din of the noise two words were called by a figure that appeared into existence over the Great Hall. _"TIME OUT!"_

...

_Authors Note_: My reviewers, I love you so very much. 21 reviews for my first chapter! I was so happy and amazed. Now I must apologize. I'm sorry. Two (almost three) weeks to get this chapter out and edited. I have been busy, yes. AP English exam (AP is done done done! ahahaha) which was insane to prepare for. I mean three essays in two hours? Blah. And friends took up most of my weekend time. The rest was writing this chapter. Took me… at least three tries before I was even happy with it and at the end came an entire new twist which made rewrite some of my plot so hurrah! Oh and everything I wrote about ghosts and haunts... I kind of made up. I hope it sounds alright.

I hope this chapter is up to everyone's expectations. I really wasn't expecting this many reviews, so it was a pleasant surprise whenever I got one. I hope I replied to them all, and if I missed any of you, I'm terribly sorry. I was thinking I might only get five reviews; ten was a goal and a dream. Twenty-one blew away all my expectations and seriously guys, I'm sorry you had to wait 2 weeks for an update. I'll try to get more done but exams are next month and teachers are cramming things into my skull. Once summer comes, I'm free!

Anyways, I've rambled enough. I've allowed anonymous reviews (thanks Quacked Lurker for pointing that out) so everyone can now review if they wish. I love all of you: my reviewers, my readers, and everyone who added me to their alert list. My wonderful Beta, LoveBob aka Sev, love to you too. Cookies for all!


	3. Of Time and Meddling

_**Disclaimer**_- I am in no way making any money off of this. This is done purely out of enjoyment. All characters from Danny Phantom belong to Butch Hartman and Nickelodeon respectively; as do all characters from Harry Potter belong to J. K. Rowling

Chapter 3

"_TIME OUT!"_

Clockwork surveyed the scene happening below him. Benches were being pushed back; wands were being grabbed from pockets, sleeves of robes, and holsters; looks of shock, surprise, amazement, and disgust adorned the faces of the staff and students alike. Several dishes and more than a few glasses were in mid-spill as the frenzy was frozen in time.

He sighed, floated over towards his charge and looked down at the now black haired boy. He smiled a secret smile and took out a gear shaped medallion with 'CW' emblazoned on the sides of it, then slipped it over Danny's head, which in reaction he got the slow and steady breathing that accompanied sleep. Danny's time had begun to flow again in this timeless state.

After making sure the boy was all right and not in immediate danger, Clockwork went over to the Head table and looked amusedly at the Headmaster of and staff Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. If looks could kill, he decided as he looked at the many different professors, the expression on Dolores Umbridge's face would have murdered him right on the spot.

Clockwork looked at the Headmaster, Albus Dumbledore, and decided his plan of action: what he would do and what he would change. When he had twisted Danny's timeline to save him, he became a sort of guardian for the half ghost boy. Another responsibility added to the ever-growing list he had, but one of the ones he enjoyed the most. Danny, from the beginning, had fascinated him with the power he had as a half ghost and his personality. He was an enigma to Clockwork, and a person like him was a once in a lifetime chance; Clockwork knew that better than most people.

Clockwork, as the Master of Time, also knew the timeline for the wizarding world. What would happen and how it would all end if he took Danny and exited quietly, rewinding time so that this had never occurred. Clockwork had been watching and saw that this timeline that was now happening had only had a one in four chance of becoming. The other two portals would have led him somewhere else; one back to Amity Park, the other went to another dimension where 'superheroes', as Danny was sometimes dubbed by the populace, were a common occurrence. The last timeline that could have been was one where Walker had captured him, but later he would be rescued and life would continue normally as normal as Danny's life could be.

This timeline was the most exciting, and would be the best for Danny he decided, but the fact that the wizarding world would now know Danny's secret would be a slight problem. So Clockwork did what he sometimes chose to do in these special cases… he meddled with time.

Albus Dumbledore felt like one of the Weasley twins had just pulled a prank on him. One moment Phantom had been there and the next he was staring into a blue face with red eyes. Dumbledore immediately pulled out his wand at this red-eyed, strange, human-like creature and pointed it towards the thing in front of him. He, it apparently seemed male, was dressed in a purple cloak of some sort, hooded, carried a staff with a clock on it, and was that a _clock_ inside of him?

"Settle down Headmaster Albus Dumbledore. I am not here to hurt you." A deep voice came out of a… child? No. Now he was an adult. '_What a strange apparition,'_ Dumbledore thought, not putting down his wand. He would have been dead many times over if had trusted words that easily.

"Who are you, and what have you done to my school?" Dumbledore questioned in a quiet, dangerous voice as his eyes flicked around the Great Hall his main focus never wandering far. As his eyes wandered around he realized, with some horror, that everyone was frozen. It was if someone had stunned all the students and staff; even objects! What could have possibly done this on such a large scale without him even noticing? Who would have such power?

"As I said, settle down Headmaster. I am Clockwork and I am here because you have seem to have met my young charge," Clockwork motioned at Danny. "We have much to speak about. Pick your most loyal professors, if you have any, and let us go to your office. Even time has its limits and I do not want to push this any farther than it must go."

Dumbledore frowned at his words. "Your name means nothing to me," he began, lacing his words with his magic, his power. "You still did not answer my question. What have you done here?" Dumbledore demanded. He did not like this Clockwork character coming into Hogwarts like it was nothing and bypassing all the protective wards. It unnerved him greatly, and that was no small feat.

"I have, not directly though. You may know me better as Chronos, or even better Father Time," Clockwork replied while shifting from adult to elder, giving as little as information as needed. Meddling has its limits, and by now he had given enough information that it should tempt the Headmaster.

Dumbledore frowned and lowered his wand for the second time that day. He recognized the first name best. Not a lot of the wizarding world bothered to remember the powers of old, and even fewer believed them. Dumbledore had never believed them. However now, as he looked around the Great Hall, he began to.

"What do you want?" He asked. One can never be too cautious; can never ask too many questions-too much at risk.

"To speak and lend some aid, I suppose, to your war with Tom Marvolo Riddle," Clockwork said, smiling.

Dumbledore's eyes narrowed and a cold, hard glint appeared in those usually grandfatherly eyes. "How did you know that name?" he asked sharply.

"I know a great many things Dumbledore. I know everything that can, will, and could be. Right now however, you are running out of time. So make your picks or this will never happen. I can guarantee that." Clockwork spoke in almost a bored tone as he picked at the clock on top of his staff idly. This was not his war. He could afford to let time run its course. This was about Danny and his growth, not the power struggle between the 'Light' and 'Dark' sides of this world.

Dumbledore didn't trust this character even though all signs pointed to him being the actual Master of Time. Though, he was never one to miss out an opportunity if given the chance. He was already playing a dangerous game with Harry and Voldemort, so what was one more risk? If this was some trick sent out by Voldemort he would have already been engaged in a battle or captured.

"Minerva and Severus, if you would please." He said quietly, choosing the two people he trusted most at this school. Of course he completely trusted Hagrid, but sadly he wasn't exactly competent with magic as the others were.

"Excellent," was all that Clockwork replied clapping his hands together. Then, reaching into his purple cloak, he pulled out two gear shaped medallions and proceeded to slip them over McGonagall's and Snape's heads.

Dumbledore noted that he also had one around his neck while he watched Minerva and Severus become unfrozen. Both had their wands out immediately.

"Who are-

"What do you think-

"Minerva, Severus now is not the time. This man, Clockwork, has some information. I've already spoken to him and for now I ask you to be silent. Not only as Headmaster but as the leader of the Order of the Phoenix and your friend." Dumbledore spoke calmly at the two panicking professors.

"But Dumbledore, what is this about?" Minerva McGonagall asked, keeping a wary eye on Clockwork wand still pointed at him.

Clockwork interrupted before Dumbledore could speak. "Not right now, Professor. Soon you shall learn all. I'll meet you in your office Dumbledore. Remember, time is ticking." And with that last statement Clockwork drifted down to Danny, picked him up, and disappeared into a portal with what looked like the hands of a clock.

...

Dumbledore, Snape, and McGonagall looked at where Clockwork had disappeared just a moment ago with slight awe and confusion.

"Headmaster what is going on? I wish for an explanation to all this utter madness!" Snape growled and turned to Dumbledore, a lingering look of worry in those normally glittering, burning eyes.

"I am afraid I can't even explain everything right now Severus," Dumbledore stated as he started walking towards the Entrance Hall the other two following behind him moving around students and object alike. "But I do know that there may be a great opportunity if we go. Something that may change the future that may be."

"But surely you must have some idea? Just who was that?" McGonagall asked, rushing to catch up with the Headmaster who was moving behind a portrait of several men who were usually debating who should have won the thirtieth Quidditch world cup, but were now frozen, as was the rest of the school apparently.

"The Master of Time, Chronos," was all that Dumbledore replied with as they came out onto the floor where the Headmaster's office was located.

"You actually believed that one of the ancient powers came to the school?" Snape spat out, looking at Dumbledore with an unbelieving face. "That they would even bother to meddle in mortal affairs?"

"Chocolate Frog." Dumbledore said to the Gargoyle that guarded the Headmaster's office.

"We will soon see, Severus. All the signs are currently pointing to yes," Dumbledore said as the platform rose to reveal the door into his office.

"I hope you're right Albus," Snape muttered under his breath.

Dumbledore said nothing. He walked towards the door and gave it a push. The door opened with a slight creak, and he walked into the eerily silent office. The portraits of the old Headmasters and Headmistresses, who usually were speaking or snoring, were as silent as the rest of the school. The professors found the lack of noise disturbing.

"Ah good. You made it just in time," the deep voice of Clockwork interrupted any thoughts they may have had of the silent room.

Clockwork was standing behind Dumbledore's desk, staff still in hand, and Danny, who was still asleep, was resting beside him in Dumbledore's chair.

"Who are you and what have you done?" Snape asked sharply stepping in front of Dumbledore. "Do you really expect us to believe that you are Chronos Master of Time? It sounds like a load of rubbish. A Hufflepuff could have come up with a better story than that."

"Severus Snape, a sharp tongue as always, but right now I need you to listen. If you do not wish to, remove your medallion and you'll be kept out of this," Clockwork quietly said, his red eyes narrowing.

Snape took a step back; Clockwork's eyes disturbed him and reminded him greatly of the Dark Lord. He wisely shut his mouth and settled on glaring, his hand on his wand at all time.

"Now, I have come here to offer you an opportunity. Whether this will or will not happen is entirely up to you," Clockwork began softly, choosing his words carefully. "As you see this boy is not entirely what he seems to be."

"What would he be then?" Dumbledore asked.

"Danny Fenton, or Phantom as you know him, is half ghost and half human. A hybrid between the two, if you wish to call it that."

"That's bloody impossible!" Snape spluttered, while looks of confusion covered the other's faces.

"No it is not. In fact there are two others of his type, and one will play a very important role in the future. The impossible has happened before, you all should know that." Clockwork said heatedly, annoyed at continually being interrupted.

"As I was saying, he is a hybrid. This enables him to be a human with ghostly powers. I know the ghosts that haunt Hogwarts are weak and are only able to stay on this plane intangible, and sometimes invisible. The ghosts of the Ghost Zone, or Amity Park, are much more powerful. Frightfully powerful in some cases," said Clockwork thoughtfully, and shuddering at the thoughts of Dan Phantom, who was locked away deep within his tower.

"Danny can help you. I will not sign him up for it, he will have to volunteer it himself, but he is extremely powerful for his young age of fifteen; one if you only count how long he has been a half ghost. If anything he could be a spy," Snape shifted at that. "Or if he wishes to go here, he could become a powerful ally. He has several powerful friends in the Ghost Zone, even if I am not sure he realizes this yet. They would help him, if he asked for it."

"What about you, his guardian?" Dumbledore asked, thinking furiously, the gears in his mind whirling around. "Why don't you help us?"

"Dumbledore," Clockwork snapped, "do not even finish that thought. I will not help you directly in this war. I will not change that night fourteen years ago! I am meddling far too much as is."

"I apologize," Dumbledore quickly said, bowing his head so as not to look at those eyes. The eyes which filled with rage at the knowledge of what Dumbledore had tried to scheme. McGonagall and Snape looked at him with wonder. Would he really have asked to change history that much? Twist time so that it would be completely distorted? Time Turners only went back a week at the most, and generally couldn't impact the timeline greatly without the almost certain death of the user. Changing an event that long ago could throw the entire future into chaos for those who knew. Everything would be different.

Clockwork became intangible and glided through the desk and stood in front of Dumbledore. "Now. Will you, if he agrees to, take Danny as a member of your Order? Will you allow him to help if he wishes it, or watch from afar until he wants to fight? Will you not betray his most guarded secret? Can you trust him to do the right thing? Will you alter the course of your future?" Clockwork asked question after question, all the while circling the two wizards and witch.

"What if he doesn't agree? What if he leaves?" Snape asked, eyes always on Clockwork.

"Then we will disappear without a trace." Clockwork responded.

"I will agree to your terms."

"Headmaster!" McGonagall gasped.

"We may gain an ally or nothing at all. We have nothing to lose and everything to gain. He may not even be magical, but he does have some traits that we don't have. Can any of us become invisible at the blink of an eye? Can we become intangible?" Dumbledore explained. "But his home, he surely must have family somewhere. What of them? And we can't have a fifteen year old without any magical knowledge go into fifth year"

"Leave his family to me," assured Clockwork. "As for his knowledge… I can give you two weeks. Two weeks of summer back."

"Two weeks? That's it? It's impossible to cram four years of magic into one's head in two weeks!" Snape exclaimed.

"Give him the basics, and give him several easy classes along with the main ones. He can catch up during spare time." Clockwork said, while shrugging. "He is a smart boy when he has the time to study."

"So that is all we have? How do I explain it to the Ministry?" Dumbledore inquired, wondering how much Clockwork had planned all of this out.

"Surely Dumbledore you can think of an explanation - an exchange student would go over fine with your Ministry. If not I am sure you can come up with a convincing story," Clockwork mused.

Dumbledore wished to question the Master of Time more. On Danny, the ghosts and the Ghost Zone, the future, and more, but a quiet rustling behind Clockwork caught all of their attention.

A slightly pale arm stretched out from the black haired boy as eyelids that were previously laden with sleep snapped open to reveal icy blue eyes. A yawn sounded and the cracking of bones was heard in the completely silent room as the once asleep occupant of the chair woke up.

A voice, edged with that not quite awake tone, broke the suffocating silence. "Clockwork, where are we?"

...

Hello. I'm sorry for my lateness again. Finals are coming and it's work work work for me. I hope you enjoyed this chapter, it was a lot of talking and explaining I know. I hope I made sense. If I didn't, I can try my best to smooth questions out next chapter.

Thank you so much for the reviews all of you, my readers. Forty-six in total. I cannot believe how good of reception this has gotten. It cheers me up every time I check my e-mail to see a new review, alert, or anything for that matter. I hope this chapter hasn't bored you readers out of your minds. More will happen next chapter, I promise, and soon a look at what's happening back in good old Amity Park. Please keep giving me feedback; I enjoy looking at your thoughts on what I write.

Thank you to all everyone: those who reviewed, those who put my on their alert/favorite list, and most of all to anyone who reads this story. I give love to my Beta, one of my friends Susie, as Sev didn't have access to a computer. Brownies for all!


	4. Swinging Back the Clock

_**Disclaimer-**_ I am in no way making any money off of this. This is done purely out of enjoyment. All characters from Danny Phantom belong to Butch Hartman and Nickelodeon respectively; as do all characters from Harry Potter belong to J. K. Rowling.

Chapter 4

"_Clockwork, where are we?"_

It was a simple question really, but one that triggered many events to come.

Danny had woken up in an unfamiliar room, he hadn't recognized anything. As he stretched out his arms he looked around at the circular office with many portraits and odd contraptions. _'Was that a very battered hat sitting on a stool in the corner? Why were some of the portraits empty?'_ Random thoughts filled his mind as his eyes flickered everywhere, focusing back on Clockwork and the others with him. Then he realized, with a sudden sinking feeling that filled the pit of his stomach with dread, this certainly wasn't the dining hall he was previously in. _'That's right! I transformed in front of hundreds of people!'_ Danny shot up out of the chair he apparently was sitting on as soon as the thought hit him.

"Clockwork," Danny nearly shouted, panic lacing his voice. "They saw me, they know. They know my secret. I asked them not to tell, really I did! B-but they saw me. The world will know. Can you help me? Please, please, please tell me you can help me." Danny nearly chocked on his words, panic clearly evident in those wild blue eyes, flashing green every few seconds due to his rising emotions. He was fidgeting, eyes looking around for any potential risk. He was getting ready to run.

"Danny," Clockwork said gently hoping to calm the boy. Clockwork remembered his reaction at first with the whole Reality Gauntlet deal… he did not want Danny to run like he did that time. This time there were options. "Calm yourself. You have time and not all that appears to be is."

Danny, who still acted on impulse and couldn't calm down immediately, took several deep breaths trying to calm himself down and take a look at his current situation.

When he actually looked around and took in his surroundings he noticed something was very off. Contraptions and portraits looked in mid motion; if that was even possible for portraits, they could just be very lifelike. The next thing he noticed, finally, was the medallion around his neck. The familiar 'CW' and gear shape made it clear as to what it was. Clockwork's 'Get Out of Time Free' cards, as Tucker had put so accurately, meant that he was currently out of the normal time stream. Danny had yet to know if this was a good thing or a bad thing yet. The last few times he had used them he had him mess up his future twice. Well, corrected a messed up future if you could call defeating your future-self and saving the world messing it up. And as for the whole not existing part from the second time? Not fun.

The next thing he really noticed was the three people beside Clockwork. There was that… Headmaster Dumbledore, wasn't it? And the stern looking women that had sat next to Headmaster was beside him. Then there was that black haired fellow. His skin looked rather pale and he was glaring at Danny again. Did he always glare at a person like they were never to smile in his presence?

Danny shook himself out of his observations. This wasn't the time to get lost in thought.

"So… I um, take it we're not in the timeline then?" Danny asked meekly, his hands playing with the medallion.

"You are correct Danny. We," Clockwork gestured to the three Professors and himself, "have much to talk about. Of course everything that is said here may or may not happen. The choice is entirely up to you, as it always is." Clockwork grinned and Danny shivered. Something big was up. "Headmaster I believe this is where you step in."

"Ah yes, good. As you know I am Headmaster Dumbledore and you are currently in my office at Hogwarts school of Witchcraft and Wizardry," Dumbledore began stepping in front of Clockwork to face the boy who was behind his desk. It had been many years since he was standing on this side of the desk. Many, many years.

"Wait," interrupted Danny, "so wizards and witches really do exist. Sorry. But are they really are real?" He was still having a hard time believing this. Ghosts he could understand, magic he could not.

Dumbledore, who seemed undaunted by Danny's question, smiled. When he was a professor he enjoyed going out to children who were unaware about magic, and showing them. "Yes indeed we exist. If we didn't we would be having a very different conversation, wouldn't you agree?"

Danny nodded cautiously as if uncertain this guy was completely here or if he was missing a few pieces of his puzzle.

"Would you like a demonstration?" Another nod was given from Danny. "Excellent. Observe," Dumbledore advised as he took out his wand and pointed at a book lying on the desk. "_Wingardium Leviosa._" And the book began to float as Dumbledore directed it.

Danny looked at the floating book with wide eyes filled with wonder. He couldn't sense any ghost in the room, other than Clockwork that is, and there wasn't any strings attached to the book. It was amazing! Something that could fly that wasn't a ghost, Valerie, or an aircraft! Magic was real.

Dumbledore smiled at the look he knew well. When one actually discovers magic, truly sees a spell being cast. He loved being a teacher for that reason, and loved looking at the younger students so excited to be emerged in a world of magic and wonder.

"I would say that I'm sorry for interrupting this warming moment, but I'm not," drawled the voice of one Severus Snape as he stepped up beside the Headmaster. "We have much more important things, such as the Dark Lord, to discuss then to do simple tricks." Snape scowled at how much time was being wasted. He wanted to know of this Danny Phantom would help them or not, and he wanted to know soon.

"I am sorry Severus, but magic is something that needs to be shown in order to believe sometimes. I highly doubt we would ever believe in the existence of a half-ghost, half-human hybrid if we had never seen Danny. Magic is much the same." Dumbledore gently chided Snape, knowing that he could not rush things.

Danny was frowning. Of all the time he had spent here conscious, he kept hearing about this 'Dark Lord'. Whoever he was he seemed pretty popular or at least well known.

"As I was saying, magic is very real." Danny opened his mouth to say something but Clockwork shushed him. "This is a school where we teach magically gifted children to use their magic in a productive way. How to defend, repair, transform, divine, create, grow plants, and so on and so forth with the magic they have. There is very little you can't do with magic. Of course if someone has the power to defend, to protect, they also can have the power to destroy. One who could repair something or could break it. Create or destroy. Magic is a power, and with all power there is some responsibility involved, as you well know.

"Just as muggles, non-magical folk, can commit crimes and have and criminals, so do wizards and witches. Some turn to using the Dark Arts, which while the minor spells are not illegal and some are only frowned on, the major dark spells can land you in Azkaban, the wizarding prison. One person started gathered a following, a ring of supporters, with a common goal if you could call it that. In our world people are classifies as Purebloods, Half-bloods, and Muggleborns. Some wizards and witched believe in something called 'blood purity' meaning that only the families of old should be allowed to be taught and use magic. Most of them, as you can probably guess, are Purebloods, meaning that their family line has no 'muggle' or 'Muggleborn' blood in their lines. Even some Half-bloods agree with them. The Dark Lord, Voldemort," Snape and McGonagall shivered at the name but Dumbledore ignored them, "started radical means to 'purify' the blood."

At this Dumbledore took a moment to collect his thoughts. The once cheerful faced Headmaster was replaced with a tired, solemn one. A face that had seen one to many battles, one too many die. Danny, unlike he usually was in class, was paying attention with intense concentration. He could feel the underlying mood to Dumbledore's speech. If the Professors were worried then these were dangerous times.

"Voldemort started a war Danny. The whole wizarding world was turned upside down. Everyone was living in fear of who would be next, or if the person next door was one of Voldemort's people, his Death Eaters. It was a very difficult time in our world. Not only did Voldemort wish to rule our world, he himself wanted to be rid of all the muggles. Now you must understand there is a very small percentage of magical people in this world. To achieve this goal he would be murdering billions. We had to stop him. Muggles are important to this earth in more ways than one. It was then, after the war kept escalating, I created the Order of the Phoenix. A group which was to created to prevent him from rising to power, to stop him from winning this war. As much as we fought back, we could not stop him. So many good people were lost." Dumbledore paused, again collecting his thoughts again, realizing he was getting off track.

"Fourteen years ago Voldemort fell and his reign of terror stopped. His Death Eaters disbanded; some went to Azkaban as they rightly deserved, most escaped persecution. The person who stopped him was a one year old child. Voldemort killed his parents, who were members of my Order, and then attempted to kill the child. Voldemort had cast Avada Kedavra, the killing curse, but the babe didn't die as was expected; instead the curse rebounded on its caster and threw Voldemort from his body. The boy survived with only a lightning shaped scar marring his forehead. His name is Harry Potter, and I believe he is the only one who can stop him now."

Dumbledore conjured a chair to sit on and sat down wearily, silent and thinking. "Voldemort returned last year. The Ministry is convinced he hasn't. He's planning, waiting in the shadows, making me look like I've finally lost my marbles. Convincing that Harry was lying and just trying to make Harry look attention starved. I have already assembled my Order, but we need all the help we can get. His followers know he has returned, the Dark Mark imprinted on their skin has darkened and he has called them, and they answered. Severus has kindly offered to be a spy again, but Voldemort is clever, more so than most, and is moving cautiously. With the Ministry of Magic and the rest of the wizarding world, except for a few, convinced he has not returned I am on a very short leash. I would be greatly appreciative if you would help us." Dumbledore finished his lengthy explanation. He could only hope that this was what they needed.

Danny sat there, in the Headmaster's chair, stunned by all the information. This Voldemort guy was seriously bad news, probably worse than Pariah Dark… maybe even worse than Dan. Danny honestly didn't know what to do. He wanted to help, but he didn't even know these people. He knew nothing of this magical world. This was way over his head. He looked towards Clockwork, begging with his eyes for some help to help him choose.

"Oh no Danny, as I've said the choice is all yours to make." Clockwork smiled again as he changed from elderly to infant. Danny noticed Clockwork had been smiling a lot lately. That unnerved him slightly. He had never seen the Master of Time so... happy, or was it amusement? Danny couldn't really tell.

"I just don't know what I could do. I mean, I know nothing of your world, of magic. I'm part ghost, not really magical." Danny sighed rubbing his hands through his hair while he was thinking. "What could I possibly do for you?"

Dumbledore looked at him, and then to Clockwork. "Well," Dumbledore started and looking back to Danny, "for one you are a very powerful ghost. Just from being able to hold a corporeal form is power enough. From what I have heard from Clockwork you have a range of different _ghostly _powers that you could use. I certainly do not expect you to fight, but you would make an excellent spy. Invisibility without a cloak, intangibility, taking over ones body," Danny shifted at the mention of overshadowing, "and a few more if I am not mistaken like the ice you created in the Great Hall. The ghosts that we have around here cannot do anything like you can. Simply they are too weak and are tied to this school as their haunt. Even so they are too recognizable. You are new, uncommon and unknown to the wizarding world, and other than the ghosts wizards don't know you."

"I guess I could do that…" Danny mumbled, thinking. He might not see his family or friends for a while. "What of my family and friends?" Danny voiced his thoughts.

"Do not worry about them. I have it all planned out if you wish to accept. If you wish to send letters and communicate I can arrange that too," Clockwork informed Danny.

"Then I see no reason why I shouldn't stay. I could actually do something useful, and I don't like people being killed. But where would I stay? What would I do while I wait for a mission or whatever you want to call it?" Danny inquired, slightly curious and hoping for the best.

"Excellent! You will stay here of course. Hogwarts is open to everybody," Dumbledore exclaimed jovially. "And you will need to join the Order. We generally only take on people who are of age, but we will make a special exception for you," he winked.

"But Headmaster!" McGonagall started, "What classes could he take? We don't even know if he has magic!" She protested, thinking about how horribly things could go wrong it would be if someone discovered this. Teenagers were not known for their kindness to each other, other than the Hufflepuffs, and she shuddered to think what would happen with the Slytherins.

"Why Minerva you make a good point," Dumbledore mused while getting up. "I believe I have a spare practice wand somewhere." He went around to the other side of the desk, beside where Danny was sitting in his chair. After rummaging around in a few drawers, one which was hidden in another, a 'Haha!' was heard from Dumbledore and he pulled out a battered looking wand. "This will do the trick."

Dumbledore conjured a small lock and placed on the desk in front of Danny, while giving Danny the wand. "Now Danny, what I want you to do is point at the lock and say _'Alohomora'_. This should unlock it."

"Erm okay?" Danny nodded. _"Alohomora!" _Danny said loudly, almost wishing for something to happen. Five pairs of eyes watched the lock and nothing happened. McGonagall gave a small clack of her tongue, Snape sneered, Dumbledore looked slightly disappointed, Danny was disappointed, and Clockwork kept smiling that strange smile.

Clockwork knew there was more to come, but would they give Danny a chance? Oh the possibilities. What could and what can happen. As much as he sometimes hated constantly watching over the time streams, he loved it just as much on other occasions.

Danny sighed. "I guess that's that. No magic for me."

"One more try, perhaps? A different spell, as _Alohomora _may just be difficult for you?" Dumbledore suggested.

"Why should we Albus? It's a year one spell. He should be able to manage that if he was magical," Snape grumbled. The silence of the school was finally bothering him. He wanted to get out of this situation as quickly and efficiently as possible. Danny had agreed to help. That was enough, wasn't it?

"But not all first years are the same. Many first years have trouble at first. Why not try _Wingardium Leviosa_? Here are the wand movements," Dumbledore explained showing the swish and flick of the wand while slightly denying the fact that Danny might not be as magical as he hoped he was. "Make sure to pronounce the GAR strongly, and the OH nice and long," advised Dumbledore.

"You know, I really doubt anything's going to happen," Danny muttered, running a hang through his pitch black hair. "But, here goes nothing. _Wingardium Leviosa_," Danny commanded the book to float making sure he followed Professor Dumbledore's movements and pronunciation.

Again five pairs of eyes watched the book. At first the book gave a shudder, just a small movement, and two pairs of eyes widened in shock, one lit up with joy, another triumphantly sparkled, and the red ones kept their secrets, waiting for the fun to begin.

The book kept shuddering, struggling to move. Slowly it began to rise, but it stopped much to everyone's dismay. The book shuddered again and with a 'whoosh' shot up to the ceiling… sticking there.

"Uh, I may not know a lot about magic… but that's not supposed to happen, right?" Danny asked looking at the book whose pages had fallen open while one cover stuck to the roof of the office.

"No it is not," Snape stated, also looking at the book, eyebrow raised elegantly as it was when he was thinking.

"Well my boy, it looks like you do have some magic in you," Dumbledore was jovial again. "But I don't think I should put you in any classes that might require it."

"I should certainly hope not," McGonagall added. "I fear what may happen if he tried transfiguration." Professor McGonagall said, thinking about how turning a matchstick into a needle could go all wrong if this was Danny's magic. Explosions, enlargements, and other disasters waiting to happen floated through her mind on the back of a certain white haired and green eyed ghost.

Clockwork floated over to Danny, a stern expression on his face. "By accepting this you know your future will change again, right? That I won't help you, unless you are in dire need of it, and that you'll be stuck here for at least a year?" Clockwork questioned Danny. Clockwork would not have Danny blindly agree to anything before thinking about it.

Danny took a few minutes to think, he had enough time for that. This was a big decision; it would change his future once again. He wouldn't be able to see Sam or Tucker for a whole year, nor would he be able to see his Mom, Dad, and Jazz. Danny would even miss Skulker and the Box Ghost, as annoying as they were they had become a familiarity to him, a constant. But people were dying, good people from what he heard. Families were being destroyed. He knew how that felt, to lose it all in a single second. Clockwork saved him from that fate, but others were not as lucky. _'If I can save maybe even one person from something other than a ghost, save one life worth saving, maybe I could help the world become a better place,'_ Danny thought. He had been saving Amity for over a year now, maybe it was time he try something different, make a larger difference in the world.

"I'll do it." Danny said as the resolution in his eyes hardened. Amity Park could survive without him. His Mom and Dad, Sam, Tucker, and Val were all adequate ghost hunters. He may be better, but they could get the job done. He was really only worried about Vlad, but Jazz could ward him off. She had gotten very good with the Jack o'Nine tails, frightfully good.

"Magnificent," Clockwork replied. "Now, I can give you two weeks. For Danny's schooling here I recommend Astronomy, Herbology, Care of Magical Creatures, Defense Against the Dark Arts, Divination perhaps, and Potions," Snape again raised his eyebrow at this. "It's a lot like muggle Chemistry. Danny will know what to do. You have two weeks to teach him the basics. Also History of Magic or Muggle Studies wouldn't be that hard to catch up in." Clockwork listed off the classes he thought would be appropriate.

"Surely you must know that the children use wands in Defense Against the Dark Arts," queried the Head of Gryffindor.

"Believe me when I say it will be minimal for the most part of the year, Professor McGonagall." Clockwork smiled at her confused expression.

"So, should I sign up for all of these?" Danny asked. He could only recognize Astronomy and he would be lying if he said he wasn't interested in it. He loved space, the stars, and the unknown. Half the reason he wanted to be an astronaut was to explore and to discover new wonders. That and he really liked rocket ships.

"How about we let you pick six or seven of them. Your choice of course," Dumbledore muttered as he looked for the forms for signing up for courses. "Ah here we are. Please check off the ones you want. And do help yourself to a lemon drop if you wish," Dumbledore pushed a tin of the yellow candies along with the form. "I'm quite fond of them."

Danny looked down at the long list of subjects and sighed. It seemed he would be making a lot of choices today. Danny picked up one of the tangy candies, popped in his mouth and set about reading the list of subjects he was presented with. Some classes were a definite no, such as Arithmancy, which was much to like math he decided. As he went down the list he checked off seven of the subjects Clockwork suggested. Astronomy was number one of course, then Herbology, DADA, Care of Magical Creatures, Potions, Divination and finally Muggle Studies. It couldn't be all that hard now could it?

"Perfect. Now, what I want you to understand is this. I will give you four two weeks to prepare. You will remember everything, the rest of the staff and students will only know an American exchange student will be joining them this year. They will remember nothing of this incident. Warn the ghosts, they have a habit of talking when they think no one is listening. Do not alter too much, or you may have dire consequences." Clockwork warned setting the rules.

"I believe a trip to Diagon Alley is in order, just use the school scholarship funds to pay for this. I am sure you'll have plenty." Clockwork reasoned, knowing that they did. "I leave you with this final warning Dumbledore. If he is killed and you or one of your people could have stopped it… let's just say your time would be cut short." Clockwork threatened. He may be as old as time and Danny may just be another responsibility, but he would be damned if Danny died. He was his guardian, and he would fulfill that role until time came to an end.

With that last warning the room began to spin. A minute hand and an hour hand spun above them, twisting time, going back, rewinding.

Soon it was a sunny morning of August seventeenth, right before breakfast. Three adults and one teenager looked around disorientated at what had just occurred. Clockwork was gone and they were left staring at each other, unbelieving at what had just happened.

"Good morning, I say! Who is that you have there?" The portrait of Armando Dippet, the previous Headmaster, said when he noticed that Dumbledore had guests.

"A transfer student," Dumbledore chuckled. He did love this office. "Now, we have much to get done." Dumbledore said, turning to Danny, with his eyes sparkling madly.

...

Meanwhile Clockwork sat in his tower, watching Dumbledore getting ready to go shopping for Danny's school supplies. Yes, this would be good for Danny. This was the much better future for him. This was the present now, and although he knew the many twist and turns that could happen, he couldn't wait to see what paths Danny would take.

Clockwork turned to another window of time and watched Danny Fenton, home at Amity Park, sleep. He would have to fix that, and fix it he would. A trip to Amity Park was in order indeed.

...

Hello again. This is the longest chapter yet. I wanted to explain everything, so you have more explanations to read… but it is necessary. Sorry about this, but I am updating more! That's an upside to this whole thing called summer vacation which ennables me to stay up till 4 am to write. Four exams down, three to go. And if there are any mistakes, I am sorry. I looked it over at least three times and my beta did too.

Now, I have something to ask of you readers in relation to this fanfiction and I would gladly appreciate any input: the matter of Danny's House. I'm leaning towards Gryffindor and Slytherin, personally, but I'm not sure. Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff don't really fit him, but if you give me a good reason I'll definitely consider it. And from most of the crossovers I've read I've seen Danny in Slytherin, but I'm not sure if I want him there.

Thank you to all my reviewers, people who put me on their alert list, and so on and so forth. You truly make my day. Thank you to my beta, Susie. Next time a look at Amity Park! Lemon drop, anyone?


	5. An Interlude to Amity

_**Disclaimer-**_ I am in no way making any money off of this. This is done purely out of enjoyment. All characters from Danny Phantom belong to Butch Hartman and Nickelodeon respectively; as do all characters from Harry Potter belong to J. K. Rowling.

Chapter 5

_A trip to Amity Park was in order indeed._

Danny Fenton was sleeping the early summer morning away without a care in the world and unaware of what was happening two weeks in the future. His current plan was sleep, get together with Sam and Tucker, play Doomed, annoy his sister, and, of course, fight ghosts whenever they decided to show up. It got rather annoying to be enjoying the latest horror flick and then missing the best parts due to the Box Ghost and his obsession with Real World boxes. Ghost Zone boxes apparently didn't match up to the quality and squareness of Real World boxes. Why? Danny had no idea.

Danny was enjoying a rather good dream. He had finally gotten the Box Ghost to shut up about boxes and was about to take on Technus whose 'modern hip' speech patterns hadn't changed, when his cell phone rang. His phone being under his pillow meant it was right under his head. Unfortunately this lead to the loud ringing noise, while slightly muffled, going off right into his ear and giving Danny a rather early awakening.

"Suffering spooks!" shouted Danny as he jumped up, ready to go ghost at any moment, looking around his room for any intruders. His cell phone, which his parents had replaced after crushing his other one, kept ringing loudly over and over again. Danny groaned; not only was he turning into his Dad but someone was calling at eight am. Way too early after a night of playing Doomed until six am. He stuck a hand under his pillow and pulled out his cell.

"Hello?" Danny yawned answering, while groggily running a hand through his messy black hair.

"Good morning Danny," a deep voice with a slight echo to it said from the other line. Danny groaned again. He knew that voice and it always meant something life altering was about to happen.

"Clockwork. Why are you calling me? Wait better question – how are you calling me?" Danny inquired, rubbing the sleep from his eyes.

"All in good time," Clockwork assured.

Danny knew he was smiling. He could tell just from his voice. Why did Clockwork have to be so… so mysterious!

"I advise you to be dressed and downstairs in about thirty minutes."

"Why?" Danny asked, mildly suspicious.

"You will see," Clockwork laughed. The line clicked dead and Danny was left staring at his cell phone in disbelief.

"ARGH!" Danny yelled into his pillow so as not to be to loud. He could hear his parents moving, or in his dad's case jumping, around in the kitchen. His sister, Jazz, was probably already at the library. He flopped onto his back and stared at his star covered ceiling.

He hated this. What in the world could cause Clockwork to call him? For that matter he didn't even know that Clockwork could use a telephone. Did that mean he was here and not in the Ghost Zone? _'Too many questions'_ Danny decided as he stood up and started getting dressed.

On went his ever faithful blue jeans and white t-shirt with the red oval and trim. This was his last good t-shirt the last one being ripped after a surprise attack from Skulker. He sighed; he would have to go shopping soon.

Danny made his way down the stairs into the living room then to the kitchen where his parents were. His dad was currently eating fudge, his all time favorite food, and his mom was making coffee – ecto free.

"Good morning Sweetie! What has you up before noon?" Maddie Fenton asked, pouring herself a cup of coffee.

"Was it a ghost?" Jack Fenton asked while finishing off his last bit of fudge. Danny chuckled at the irony; his dad had no clue how close he was to the truth.

"My cell phone went off. A friend called me and I couldn't get back to sleep after the call," Danny replied while grabbing a bowl of cereal. As he sat down his thoughts went back to the call from Clockwork. He frowned in thought at what might be happening soon. With Clockwork it was always life altering or, as it was last time, life destroying. He didn't even _exist_ last time and Vlad had married his mother. Danny shuddered, that was definitely an '_eww_' moment.

Just as Danny was finishing his bowl of cereal the doorbell rang loudly through the house signaling someone was at the door.

"Ghost!" Jack shouted and rushed to the door, the Jack 'o Nine Tails already in hand and ready for use.

"Jack, wait!" Maddie yelled and ran after her husband.

"Oh boy," Danny said wearily looking at the clock. Eight-thirty exactly. He walked out of the kitchen after his parents.

Jack got to the door and ripped it open, his anti-ghost weapon swinging, to show a young man in a brown suit. "Eat this, ghost!"

"Jack, no!" Maddie grabbed his arm, stopping his attack. "We don't attack people at the door. I've told you this over and over. Look at this man - does he look like a ghost?"

"Aww, but Maddie! What if it was a ghost?" Jack whined, unhappy that there wasn't a ghost at the door.

"Then they would have just phased through the door and not bothered ringing the doorbell. Now go to the couch and," Maddie paused, searching through her side pouch and bring out a cookie, "have a cookie."

"Oh boy, peanut butter chocolate chip!" Jack grinned and bounded off to the living room couch with his cookie in hand while Danny took his place, standing beside his mom.

"I'm sorry about my husband's behaviour. He can get overexcited about guests." Maddie apologized turning to the man at the door.

The man smiled an eerily familiar smile to Danny, and brushed a bit of nonexistent dust off of his jacket. He carried a clipboard under one arm and a small briefcase with his other hand. He looked normal for the most part, nothing really defined him. Average height, light brown hair and eyes to match just made him another face in the crowd. "Not a problem at all," he assured a faint English accent laced his voice.

"What can I help you with?" Maddie asked, wondering what brought someone to Fenton Works this early in the morning.

"Ah, yes. I am here to offer a," the man looked at his clipboard, "Daniel Fenton a position at a private boarding school in Scotland." He said looking up from his clipboard and meeting Maddie's lavender eyes.

"A school in Scotland?" Maddie asked in surprise, shock written over her face. The fact that Danny was offered a position in a private school, let alone foreign school, was shocking to say the very least. The last she had heard from Mr. Lancer was that Danny was just scrapping by with high Cs and low Bs. Not private school material at all. "I'm not sure I understand why or how for that matter, Mr...?" She trailed off.

"Oh! Terribly sorry. I'm Charles Worth, a scout for the school," Charles Worth informed holding out his hand to be shaken, smiling that familiar smile and ignoring the look of dawning realization that was crossing Danny's face at the mention of his name.

"Maddie Fenton," Danny's mother grabbed his hand and shook it. "And this is my son Danny," she put her hand on Danny's shoulder.

"Pleasure meeting the both of you. Now may I at least explain about this school before being turned away? The look you're giving me isn't a very encouraging one." Mr. Worth requested, still smiling, acting the perfect salesman.

"I suppose so. Please come in," Maddie moved away from the door to let the brown haired man in.

"Thank you," he said moving into the house, glancing at Danny and nodding his head in his direction ever so slightly.

Danny glared at 'Charles Worth'. The name, or rather the initials, gave it away; Clockwork. He didn't know what this whole school pitch was about but he did know that something big was happening. Clockwork rarely meddled and when he did it was important. For Clockwork to be in the Real World and overshadowing or having a human appearance - Danny didn't know which one it was - was rather unnerving. Danny had only seen him meddle when he froze time to adjust something, never meddle in while things were still in motion, unfrozen, and conscience of his presence.

As his mother and Charles Worth went into the living room joining his father, Danny trailed behind trying to figure out what this school idea meant. Going to the couch, Danny sat down beside his father, who was still rather bouncy, and across from Charles Worth also known as Clockwork.

"So, what's this about a school in Scotland?" Maddie asked, curious as to what this man's visit was all about.

"Yes, well. There's a small school in Scotland that helps students who have problems with focusing on their school work and have the potential to do very well." Mr. Worth began, his hands folded neatly on his lap with a serious expression on his face.

"What exactly does that mean?" Maddie interrupted, Jack nodding with her question.

"Well we believe that things such as video games, television, computers and other common yet distracting objects hold back certain children and teenagers from reaching their full learning potential. I scout out children and teenagers who show the signs of being able to do potentially well in school if they were not distracted so easily," continued Mr. Worth's explanation of the school.

"Why do you think Danny is a potential student?" Jack asked, in a rare moment of seriousness. When it came to his children he was all ears.

"Well I've spoken to Danny's teachers and gained quite a bit of info on his schooling records. He used to be an above average student until he started at Casper High. I believe his drop in grades are from these distractions. As new devolopments in technology are coming out and video games are much more popular some students become less interested in school. This can cause grades to drop.

"Back to his teachers that I was talking about. A," he paused looking down at his clipboard, "Mr. Lancer who is one of Danny's main teachers apparently,let Danny retake a poetry exam which he had failed, and kept him in his classroom in the evenings to study. With no distractions, Danny aced the test with an A minus. This enforces my beliefs that he would excel at Hogwarts - which is the name of the school - and do very well there." Mr. Worth finished looking at Danny's parents.

"I don't know about this..." Maddie mumbled in thought. "In Scotland? That's very far away from home. And although I can see your point how do you keep the children focused on their studies?" She questioned, not entirely enthused about her son leaving home, leaving her protection. Maddie worried about her baby boy all the time, though that worry may not show itself all the time. She had been especially worried about him with all the recent ghost attacks.

"First the school is in a secluded part of Scotland and is surrounded by the forest. The students are not allowed off school grounds, although there isn't really any place that they could go. We have a no technology policy. Meaning no computers, no cell phones, no television; everything is done by hand. Lessons are all day with a break for lunch and the odd free period. They have the weekends off and, on certain days, may visit the small town that rests beside the school and is the only other large population for many many miles. We believe this set up keeps them focused on their studies and promotes creativity with others and without the use of technology." Mr. Worth surmised without missing a beat. He said it in a well practised way as if he had done this before and knew what he was doing.

"Well, that sounds logical. What about tuition and such? It would be expensive to send him overseas let alone to a private school. And how would we contact him without a phone? Regular mail would take several weeks to deliver, especially if it is so secluded." Maddie pointed out.

"He would be what you would considered a scholarship student or sorts with our policies on foreign students since they are very rare. His expenses would be paid for and all you would need to pay for would be a little spending money for the trips to the village. For mail we have a rather unique system of delivering mail; I doubt you would believe me if I told you," he grinned.

"Why?" Jack questioned, frowning.

"We use owls to deliver mail," Mr. Worth said his voice void of any hint of joking.

"You're right, I don't believe you," Maddie said disbelievingly while Jack gaped.

"It's completely true, however we have a regular mail system in place if you wish to use that. If you accept I will send an owl to prove it, but for now what are your opinions as Danny's parents on this school?" Charles Worth asked.

"Too good to be true," Maddie replied, unconvinced that something this extravagant existed. Jack nodded his agreement with his wife's statement.

"Here," Mr. Worth brought out his briefcase and opened it up. "I have some information booklets on the school. You may take your time and look through them." Jack and Maddie looked into the briefcase and brought out a few books, leafing through them and wondering if this school actually did exist.

Throughout this entire conversation about the school one member of the group stayed silent. Danny had kept quiet throughout the presentation, only listening and wondering why Clockwork wanted him to go to a school half way across the world. What was the reason behind all of this? He also hated the fact that they were talking over his head like he wasn't there. He hated it when adults did that.

Meanwhile Mr. Worth was fiddling with his watch**, **twisting the hands to match a certain time.

"Is there anything the matter?" Maddie asked, noticing his fidgeting.

"Is it a ghost?" Jack asked, perking up.

"Nothing is the matter, " the man in question answered, still concentrating on his watch. "Nothing - ah here were are. _Time out_." And the world ceased moving.

Clockwork smiled, happy to be back in his element, back to time rather than schools. From his jacket he pulled out one of his time medallions, leaned over and placed it around Danny's head.

"What's happening?" Danny asked, unfreezing suddenly and jumping up.

"Good to see you again Danny. It's been a while," Clockwork smiled his voice having a ghostly echo to it now and the accent was gone.

"I knew it was you! What are you doing here? Why do you want me to go to this school? Is it really in Scotland? Owls? What is it? An owl training school? Why did you have to come this early in the morning? And how are you human, or human looking for that matter?" Danny questioned rapidly, not pausing to breath. As he took a large breath to begin again Clockwork raised a hand to silence him.

"I'm here to fix a time paradox." Clockwork said looking at Danny, his eyes now pure red.

"A what?" Danny asked, confused.

"A time paradox. Something that would create a rift if I let it continue to happen." Clockwork explained.

"Erm... what happened that created a paradox, and how did it include me?"

"In the future, on the first day of school, you got lost in the Ghost Zone," Clockwork began.

"No surprise there," Danny mumbled.

"And Walker was chasing after you, " Clockwork continued, ignoring the interruption, "attempting to throw you in prison as he usually tries. Walker was about to trap you when Wulf came to your rescue, yet Walker returned soon after. Wulf opened a portal for you to escape but things did not goes as planned and you ended up in a very different place than you are used to," Clockwork paused, deciding on his next words carefully. "Danny you ended up landing in a school that teaches magic and right now, well in two weeks, you will be attending this school. You have already agreed."

"What?" Danny asked blankly.

"In a few days I will be coming to collect you for the time being until September first which in that case you will disappear like you do in the original time line, but by then everything will have caught up. No more paradox." Clockwork was smiling with that infuriating smile again.

"So- so I just fade into nothing?" Danny asked in horror. He really didn't feel like fading away into nothing. "And do you really think that I, in the past, present, or future, would believe in magic let alone believe in a school that teaches it?"

"Not exactly. You will just catch up to your future self. Like say you split yourself into two: a copy of you and a real you. You are currently the copy and the one at Hogwarts now is the real you. You just go back to the original," he explained. "The school really does exist for that exact purpose, to teach magic. But you don't have to believe it. You will see soon enough."

"Then what are you doing here if I have no choice," sourly Danny said, frowning.

"You always have a choice. You could choose not to help me and this would become a bigger problem, but the ending would be the same. You would disappear on September first and the logical explanation would be much harder."

"So I really don't have a choice and I'm going to a magic school that sounds completely unreal whether I want to or not because I've already chosen to go?" Danny asked, unsure if he had gotten everything right.

"Yes."

"Why can't my life ever be simple?" Danny groaned, his head hanging in is hands.

"Because life is never simple. You should know that by now," Clockwork remarked, fiddling with his watch again and twisting the hands. "_Time in._"

"So are you sure nothing is wrong?" asked Maddie looking towards their guest.

"No. My watch was just off a few minutes," Mr. Worth said giving a a small, harmless smile. His eyes were brown again and his voice was back to slightly English with no echo.

"If you're sure," Maddie said still leafing through the information booklets. "I'm still rather uneasy about this. The school is so far away and the whole owl thing is unnerving."

"Mom, you and Jazz are always on my case about getting out in the world and exploring my options. This is the perfect oppertunity." Danny chimed in, plastering a smile on this face.

Jack and Maddie turned to their son, surprise showing on their faces. Danny had never been like this, so willing to try something new and so far away from home. Even on the family road trip he had wanted to bring Sam and Tucker along, though they had declined soon after.

"Well it's good to try something new every once and awhile, " Danny's smile was faltering as he tried to quickly think of somthing that might sound more convincing to his parents. "Uh and I uh could check out to see if they have any ghosts! You know... foreign ghosts and I could give you a report if I find anything."

"That's a great idea! Old spooky castles have got to have something. I'm all for it," Jack agreed, excited about the prospects of new ghosts to examine and dissect molecule by molecule.

"Jack!" Maddie scolded, frowning at her husband's antics.

"How about this: Danny can go and if he has any major troubles or problems we can send him home at Christmas." Mr. Worth reasoned, a look of hope on his face.

"Well... I'm not to sure about this," Maddie said, unconvinced that she should let her baby boy go. She and Danny had really started to reconnect lately and she didn't want to lose that connection again.

"Don't worry Mom. I'll be fine, and he did say if I was having any trouble I could come home at Christmas," Danny argued, trying to convince his mother. He rather do this the easy way if he had to do it.

Maddie looked at Mr. Worth directly in the eyes. "You are sure that this school is here for his best interests, that it's a good environment for him; that this Hogwarts puts his interests first and their interests second; that he will be able to contact us if he needs help or just to write to someone familiar and reassure that he still has people who care about him out there." Maddie made it a statement rather than a question, enforcing that if this wasn't met Danny wouldn't be going.

"Of course," He assured her, looking directly into her eyes. "Now if you could sign these papers everything will be set," Mr. Worth said pulling a few documents out of his briefcase, "and I'll be able to pick Danny up in about five days to take him to London."

As Danny's parents went over the paperwork, Mr. Worth gave Danny a small wink. "I hope you'll be able to say your goodbyes with out much trouble. I believe it will be a very interesting year for you."

"Uh-huh," Danny agreed, watching his parents.

"There all done!" Jack excitedly said and pulling Danny towards him. "Now Danny, remember any sign of a ghost and you send me a letter report right away. Remember what I taught you." Jack quietly murmured to his son giving him a quick hug.

"I'm still around for a few days Dad. Don't worry about that," Danny laughed.

"Goody! I can teach you everything over again," Jack beamed running off to the lab downstairs, leaving Danny with a slight grimace.

"Well we should help you pack up I guess, and you should contact Sam and Tucker," Maddie suggested while standing up and walking towards the kitchen intent on finding out what her husband was up to.

"And I shall contact the school and tell them of your enrollment," Mr. Worth said, standing up and packing away all the papers that lay strewn around the living room.

"I'll walk you to the door," Danny decided getting off the couch and heading to the door when Mr. Worth had collected all of his papers.

The walk to the door which in reality was very short felt very long to Danny. He didn't really get all of what was happening. The whole paradox time-rift idea was rather complex and Danny didn't really feel like figuring it out right then. It was summer vacation, he didn't need to do anything right now. He would contact Sam and Tucker right after Clockwork left, but he didn't know what to say; the whole magic school was hard to imagine and him disappearing didn't seem like such a fun idea either. He would write to everyone of course and keep in contact, but he just wished he wasn't doing this alone.

"Don't worry, you will make new friends." Clockwork was speaking again. They were at the door. "I'll see you in five days, make sure to say all your good byes by then. And don't worry about those reports, I'll inform you in the future about them."

"Thanks, and I will say my goodbyes, but what will happen to me once you collect me?" Danny inquired, curious.

"I'll bring you to my tower and you can keep me company for a week and a half."

"Are you serious? Why not collect me a few days before I fade then?" Danny ranted, mad at the fact that he couldn't spend more time with his friends and family.

"Well we would technically need time to get you settled and your school supplies so I allotted time for that, and I get bored with only the Observants for company. They are so single-minded and concerned with the world that they never have any time for fun." Clockwork explained amused.

"Great. Just great," Danny groaned his complaint.

"See you later Danny," Clockwork said his good bye and stepped into one of his portals vanishing from the street.

Danny stared at the empty street in front of him. It was nine-thirty in the morning. Adults were already awake and at work and it was too early for teenagers to be up. As the door to Fenton Works closed Danny sighed and gave one last thought to the situation before going to call Sam and Tucker. _'Stupid on button being inside the portal. Magic can't be any weirder than being half-dead, right?'_

_...  
_

Hello. The Acorn Snake here. Sorry for the delay but this chapter was a bugger to write. I am also on vacation to New Brunswick (wh-hoo Atlantic Ocean) and it took me forever to find WordPad on my uncle's computer. That and I've been out and about exploring the area and visiting my Nanny (Grandmother) and other relatives.

Sorry for all the lengthy convincing in Amity Park but it had to be done. I don't believe Maddie would send her child off to some strange foreign school without some major convincing. This is the last we shall be hearing from Amity for awhile as I don't intend to write Danny's goodbyes or time with Clockwork. Let's just say they played a lot of chess. The next chapter will be focused on the first of September: meaning I'm not going to go through all of Danny's magic training, Diagon Alley, and the entire two weeks given to them, but show it throughout the chapter rather than in one chunk. Now with that said, I can say that I'm very excited about the next chapter as it will have Danny's sorting. It's looking like Gryffindor to me, he's just too... Gryffindor-ish. With maybe a Slytherin mind and a Gryffindor heart, or something to that matter.

Anyways. I'm very nervous about this chapter. I think it's good, but I'm not convinced. A thank you to all my reviewers, readers, and alert-list people. You all give me great confidence. A big hug and love to my beta, Susie. Fudge anyone? (The dessert, not the Minister).


	6. Welcome Home

_**Disclaimer-**_ I am in no way making any money off of this. This is done purely out of enjoyment. All characters from Danny Phantom belong to Butch Hartman and Nickelodeon respectively; as do all characters from Harry Potter belong to J. K. Rowling.

Chapter 6

Harry Potter, Boy-Who-Lived and Gryffindor 'Golden Boy', stepped into Hogwarts' Entrance Hall and felt – no – knew he was home. Just the feeling of the magic in the air and the sound of the students made him smile. He had missed this during the summer. The Dursleys were boring and normal, and although Grimmauld Place had Sirius, it was a rather depressing place to be with the portrait, Kreacher and doxy infestation.

Number Twelve Grimmauld Place had turned out to be very interesting and welcomed escape from his blood relatives Harry had later decided. Not only did he find out what Voldemort was up to – which was nothing other than making him look like an attention seeking fool – but he was reunited with his best friends and the only people he really considered family. Harry had also learnt of the organization that was created to put a stop to Voldemort's reign of terror – the Order of the Phoenix. His parents had been apart of this group in the first war apparently as had many of the adults he knew.

The most recent news however had been that the Order had gained a new ally that Dumbledore was extremely pleased to have. Why? Harry didn't know, but he did know that only two other Order members had met this new member and both had approved, although Snape was rather reluctant to admit it. Harry was very curious about this, as was everyone else, but as the saying went curiosity had killed the cat. '_Satisfaction brought it back however,'_the mischievous part of his mind whispered. Harry batted the thought away. Dumbledore knew what he was doing and would eventually tell him what was going on. Hopefully.

Harry frowned. He had hoped the Headmaster would have given him some answers, but he seemed to be avoiding Harry and Harry hadn't a clue as to why he was.

"You okay, mate?" Ron Weasley asked his best friend seeing the frown on his face.

"Yeah," Harry replied, shaken out of his thoughts. "Just thinking about the coming year," he explained while they walked into the Great Hall. Already it had been… exciting, and he had only just arrived. With the Order's escort, the train ride and the creepy horses that only he and Luna 'Loony' Lovegood could see, Harry wasn't sure if he could handle any more surprises today.

"Yes," the girl beside Harry said, clapping her hands with excitement. "This year we have OWLs, which means difficult classes are ahead of us. We should start planning for them now," Hermione Granger said to her friends, already planning a study schedule. She really did love to learn.

Ron groaned. "Hermione you've been like a broken record all summer with OWLs. We know already."

"I agree with Ron," said Harry giving his thoughts on the matter.

"Fine," Hermione huffed as they reached the Gryffindor table and sat down waiting for the rest of the students to arrive. "Don't come to me when you try to last minute everything."

Harry chuckled at Hermione's statement. He knew she would help them anyways, she always did.

"I wonder how many firsties in Gryffindor we'll get this year," Ron commented as the Great Hall filled up, waiting for the sorting to begin and, more importantly, food to show up.

"I wonder if Dumbledore found a replacement for the Defense position. I doubt he had an easy time finding one." Harry said, scanning the staff table where the professors, except Professor McGonagall, were seated.

"The job's cursed mate. Everyone knows that," Dean Thomas, fellow Gryffindor fifth year, said from beside Lavender who nodded.

"Professor Trelawney said that a dark grim-like omen looms over the office. That's why they can't hire anyone," agreed Lavender, her voice completely honest.

"Do you seriously believe-"

"Who's that?" Hermione asked pointing towards the staff table interrupting anything damaging Ron could have said.

Harry followed Hermione's hand towards where Dumbledore was sitting. That definitely wasn't the person Hermione was asking about. His eyes flicked to the person beside Dumbledore however and got nasty shock. Sitting there was a rather stubby witch sitting there, with a pink headband on her head and a pink cardigan over her robes. While this sight alone would make one cringe from all the pink it wasn't the reason why Harry was shocked.

"I-I can't believe this!" Harry spluttered dumbfounded at who he was seeing. There, at the staff table, was a woman he had hoped to never see again. He would never forget that toad like face or the pink that seemed to surround that woman.

"What can't you believe Harry?" Ron asked, confused.

"It's that Umbridge woman. She works for Fudge and voted against me at my hearing," Harry said sourly, recalling the hearing with displeasure.

"She works for the Ministry?" asked Hermione, her eyes narrowing in thought.

"Yeah… wonder what she's doing here," Ron mused.

But before Hermione could answer, Professor McGonagall decided to enter the Great Hall leading the soon to be sorted first years at that moment that caused all conversation to cease. The Head of Gryffindor house walked between the tables with a quick, brisk pace making the eleven year olds follow her at almost a jog.

Reaching the staff table she placed the battered stool and patched Sorting Hat in front of it. The entire school stared at the Hat intently.

The Hat did not disappoint as it burst into song. The song the Hat sang, however, was unusual and differed from the other years Harry, Hermione, and Ron had heard. It sang of the Houses and their qualities as usual, but it gave a warning. That was unusual.

As the Hat ended with _'Let the Sorting now begin'_ applause erupted from around the Hall, but it was met with questions. Most everybody had turned to a neighbor beside him or her to ask what the song meant.

"Has the Sorting Hat ever done that?" Ron asked no one in particular. "Give a warning I mean," he clarified.

"Yes. In times of great danger it does," a reply came from Sir Nicholas who floated to the table and settled down beside Neville, who gave a shiver. He would have elaborated more had the sorting not begun with 'Abercrombie, Euan' becoming a Gryffindor. The table cheered and everyone settled in to watch the Sorting as questions could always be answered later.

The number of first years waiting to be Sorted slowly dwindled down and the coming feast was fast approaching. After the last one to be Sorted, 'Zeller, Rose' a Hufflepuff now, something as equally strange as the Hat giving a warning occurred. Professor McGonagall had not taken the stool and Sorting Hat away.

"What do you think is happening?" Harry asked Ron in hope of his best friend knowing some weird wizarding tradition that might explain this.

"Dunno."

"Now," Dumbledore began interrupting any conversation happening, "I know all of you are quite hungry and want the feast to begin soon, however there is one last student to Sort. He is transferring here from America and will be in fifth year. Please give him a warm welcome." Dumbledore smiled, eyes sparkling. "Professor McGonagall if you would please."

McGonagall gave a curt nod. "Fenton, Daniel."

And from the little room behind the staff table, the one Harry realized he had gone into for the Triwizard tournament, a boy with raven black hair stepped out and came into view.

...

Danny was, to say the least, nervous. He paced back and forth, back and forth in the small room he was currently in. Danny knew he had to wait until his name was called, Dumbledore was very specific about that, but when he heard the students start filing in he became very nervous. He was fine before. Very calm, waiting patiently, not nervous. Now? Now he was shivering like a trembling aspen in the wind.

Danny sat down again. Pacing was tiring and he just needed time to think.

The last two weeks were amazing. Diagon Ally was strange and interesting in a different way than the Ghost Zone had been. The Ghost Zone was creepy and weird. Diagon Ally was magical and full of life. It had witches and wizards of every type. Professor Dumbledore had went with him, which although unusual he later heard, it wasn't completely uncommon either.

Gringotts, the wizarding bank, was intriguing as were the goblins that protected and managed it. The cart ride down to one of the Hogwarts vaults was extremely fun in Danny's opinion. It went really fast and at one point he swore he saw a dragon. After the trip back to the surface he had thanked the goblin, Griphook, who had bowed his head in return.

Next they were off to get Danny's robes. Danny tugged on the ones he was now wearing. He thought the fact that witches and wizards actually wore them to be very amusing. It wasn't that they were uncomfortable, they were very soft, but he wasn't used to wearing one. It felt like he was going to take a bath very soon. _'But,'_ Danny thought, _'I'll adjust.'_

They got his potion ingredients and equipment next. Danny was looking forward to the subject, but he hoped it didn't smell as bad as it did in the Apothecary all the time.

While in the Ally he was able to question the Headmaster on numerous things in the wizarding world. Like, what was Quidditch and was it really played on brooms? What were the four houses like? Did owls really deliver the mail? Was that witch reading a magazine with moving photos? All were answered with enough detail to satisfy Danny and every once and a while he thought he saw Dumbledore get this sparkle in his eye. The Headmaster was really enjoying this he had realized.

When they got to Flourish and Blotts Danny found that he was actually _interested _in the books and schoolwork. In fact Dumbledore had helped him pick out a few extra books that would be helpful for learning the subjects he had chosen and would give a little background history on the wizarding world's past and present. Danny still couldn't get over the fact that he was interested in learning and it was still summer break.

The most anticipated trip was to Ollivander's to get a wand for him and Danny was really excited about that. Dumbledore had told him it was mainly for show as any magic had a tendency to be either non-existent or all too powerful. He had tried a spell called 'Lumos' with Professor Flitwick at one point and the poor professor had caught on fire. At that point they told him only to try in emergencies.

His wand. Danny took the twelve and a half inch wand out of his robe pocket. It was made of yew and was a light brown color. The core, as Mr. Ollivander had told him, was a dragon heartstring that was from a species of dragon that particularly enjoyed colder climates rather than the heat dragons usually liked. Ollivander had described the wand as 'impulsive and sporadic,' which Danny had thought suited him well.

The tour of Diagon Ally had ended all too soon and Danny had returned to Hogwarts to start catching up on the subjects he had picked. For Divination and Muggle Studies Danny read through the few textbooks he had on them as there wasn't exactly much else he could do. Divination seemed very chancy he concluded after meeting Professor Trelawney, very chancy. He soon realized that there wasn't very much to study about them. Divination was made of predictions and guesses while Muggle Studies, to him, was common knowledge.

Professor Sprout had given him an intensive few study sessions. He could recognize most plants up till third year, but he was still on fourth. The kindly professor and Head of Hufflepuff had told him if he ever needed help just come to her. Danny of course had thanked her and went back to the textbooks thinking Sam would have loved this.

Potions had come next. It was a lot like the chemistry class he took in Casper High he realized and it wasn't that hard. Follow the formula and you get the expected result. However Professor Snape was a perfectionist he noticed, and drilled him everywhere and anywhere – even at lunch! Though Snape appeared cold and seemingly uncaring, the professor actually did care for him a bit, or he wouldn't have done this Danny concluded. The greasy Potions Master did warn him that whatever house Danny got Sorted into he would not be easy on him. With that warning Danny made sure he studied hard. Herbology helped a lot with the ingredients and their properties in potion making, and he had caught up to the fifth years. Nothing does it like threats to motive you.

Danny had no troubles about learning Astronomy. All he needed to learn was what the magical properties and arrangements meant and he was good to go. Danny had actually gone down to the library and took out a few extra books on the subject.

Care of Magical Creatures was currently being taught by Professor Grubbly-Plank who was subbing for Hagrid the usual professor. Danny did fairly well with some of the magical creatures while others seemed to be spooked by him. The professor told him not to worry and just concentrate on the other subjects. Later, when Danny asked where the regular professor was, Dumbledore had told Danny about Hagrid's mission for the Order to meet with the giants and hopefully persuade them to not join Voldemort. From what Danny had read giants were rather volatile and he seriously hoped Hagrid was all right.

For Defence Against the Dark Arts Danny was taught by Dumbledore and Professor Snape. Most of it was theory and demonstration, but Danny thoroughly enjoyed it. But, like Herbology, he was behind and had only just gotten through half of the material for third year. Dumbledore assured him there was no problem as the teacher for the subject was likely not to use any magic. When Danny had asked him why there wouldn't be any magic done Dumbledore had replied with something like 'Ministry interference'.

All in all Danny had a busy two weeks, but he had a lot of fun. Most of the professors were very friendly and usually willing to show him magic. During this time Danny had also learnt a lot about the upcoming war. Who Voldemort was and why everyone was scared of him. Who Harry Potter was and why everyone either called him a savior or a liar. Danny thought the wizarding world was confusing, calling someone a hero then a liar on the flip of a dime. But that didn't matter. What matter was what he could do to help. Dumbledore said that they would likely just have him go with Snape during Death Eater meetings and look around wherever the meeting was… but things were never certain. Dumbledore said that he would make sure Danny would know when they needed his help, and Danny trusted his judgment.

The ghosts also trusted Dumbledore and only told good things about him, except for, of course, Peeves. Danny had asked the ghosts the next time they saw him not to spread around the fact that he was only a half-ghost. The ghosts had readily agreed, even Peeves after a few good threats. Sir Nicholas and the Grey Lady were the two he got along with most. The Bloody Baron was creepy and sometimes the Fat Friar reminded him too much of Klemper with going on and on about friendship.

Danny stood up and started pacing again. He hadn't realized how fast these two weeks had gone by. He wasn't sure that he could do this.

'_Get a hold of yourself Fenton! You took down Pariah Dark. Going to sit in front of a school and be Sorted is nothing compared to that!'_ Danny thought with confidence and decided to peek outside.

With his head intangible and invisible Danny stole a look at the Great Hall. The sorting had begun in front of the hundreds of students. _Hundreds_ of _students_.

'_I am so Dead with a capital D,'_ Danny groaned sliding back into the chamber. He was so very dead, even more so than he already was.

"Fenton, Daniel."

The voice echoed through the room, summoning him to his doom. It was the voice of death. It was the voice that would destroy him and melt him into a puddle of nerves. It was-

Danny opened the door and stepped into the Hall. It was time to get Sorted.

...

To the rest of the school what they saw was a teenager, a black haired boy who looked extremely nervous to be the center of attention.

To Danny the rest of the school looked like his impending doom.

Danny stumbled a bit to the chair and heard a few giggles and a definite murmur of 'Hufflepuff' from the some of the students nearest the stool.

Danny glared.

He walked to the stool and sat down. Then there was darkness as the hat was slipped on his head and over his eyes.

'_So I wonder how this thing works?'_

'I say! I am not a thing. I'm a hat!' a voice was echoing within his head.

'_You-you talk?'_ Danny asked, slightly shocked.

'No. I sing and talk! But to have a discussion is not why you're here right? So let's get on with the Sorting,' the Hat muttered. 'My, my, you have a very sly mind Danny. You won't hesitate to use your powers if it benefits you.'

'_You know about my powers?'_ Danny worried.

'I can't very well tell everyone what I see in someone else's mind. Your secret is safe with me,' the Hat replied, amused and sensing the next question Danny would have asked. 'You have loyalty, but only those who have earned it. You can be smart when you so chose it, and I believe I am quoting _'no more books'_hmm?'

'_Eh heh heh,'_ Danny gave a nervous laugh.

'Yes. Your mind is very different. It's not often I get to sort someone older than eleven. Teenagers do seem to have more… interesting thoughts.'

Danny knew the Hat was looking in his head and felt slightly uncomfortable that a Hat, of all things, probably knew him better than Sam and Tucker did.

'You have plenty of bravery. You've shown that quality within the past year often. I believe you have what is called a 'hero complex', but I digress,' the Hat mused. 'Now where to put you…'

'_I'm really fine with anywhere you know,'_ Danny said, throwing in his two cents on the matter.

'Ah so you've realized you have a choice in the matter. Bravo Mr. Fenton. Well, you do have more impulsive tendencies; such as you throw yourself blindly into situations that you don't always understand. Perhaps an example would be best. The whole 'ecto acne' trouble with Vla- '

'_Please don't finish that thought,'_ Danny thought sourly at the Hat. _'I can put you somewhere where no one will find you. Ever.'_

'Temper, temper Mr. Fenton. Anyways I know where you belong now. Enjoy your time in –

"GRYFFINDOR!" was shouted out to the whole school.

And before Danny took the Hat off his head one last message from the Hat floated to him.

'I do hope you come back to talk. You have a very interesting mind Mr. Fenton. One like I haven't seen in a long while.'

Danny eyebrow rose towards the Hat after he got off the slightly too small stool and headed towards the table decked in red and gold that was cheering loudly. Some of the other teenagers had made room for him near where they sat. Danny had no idea as to why.

Danny gulped. This would be a whole new type of school for him. A school where if you got on someone's wrong side they could use magic instead of fists to make you hurt.

Danny sat down at the offered seat between a slightly chubby boy and a rather pretty girl. Across from him was another boy, this one with jet black hair, glasses, and vivid green eyes. Sort of like ectoplasm Danny thought. This must be Harry Potter. The two who he sat between was a red headed boy, who must be Ron Weasley, and a rather bushy haired girl, which Danny assumed to be Hermione Granger. Danny recognized them from the pictures Dumbledore had showed him of the 'Golden Trio'.

Danny then noticed, with a flush creeping up on his face, that they were all staring at him.

"Hi, uh, I'm Danny. Danny Fenton," Danny began by introducing himself, hating that his voice held a quaver that revealed how nervous he really was.

The fifth year Gryffindor students continued to stare. Danny was really getting nervous now. Then a giggle uttered from the girl beside him, and soon everyone was grinning.

"Sorry about that. We're actually a nice lot once you get to know us. We're just not used to your accent," the boy beside him said, grinning while the few girls around him giggled.

"Uh, I see…?" Danny said cautiously, confused. This was definitely high school all over again. Hello awkwardness and goodbye self-confidence.

"Pleasure to have you in Gryffindor," Hermione greeted Danny, smiling and welcoming him. "I'm Hermione Granger."

"Neville Longbottom," the boy beside him, Neville, introduced himself.

"Lavender Brown," the giggling girl who was beside him said, smiling prettily.

"Ron Weasley," Ron continued with the introductions, his eyes narrowed slightly in thought, wondering if they could trust this new comer.

"Seamus Finnigan," an Irish accented boy introduced himself.

"Dean Thomas," the dark skinned boy beside Seamus nodded towards Danny.

"Parvati Patil," chimed in the girl sitting on the other side of Lavender.

Now that was everyone except…

"I'm Harry Potter. Welcome to Gryffindor."

...

Eh heh heh. Hi. I'm sorry for such a late update, but I plead guilty to Writers Block in the first degree. I had everything from Danny's thoughts down to the Sorting planned, but the beginning of this chapter gave me so much trouble; even now I'm not sure if I like it entirely. I just wanted to cram all of Harry's feelings from OotP along with mine in… and it took a while to figure out how to write a different introduction to Hogwarts because it couldn't be the exact same. Things changed from then to now when meddling with time.

Also Danny's reminiscing on his trip to Diagon Ally and the past two weeks of learning is meant to be slightly choppy and fast paced. They are only thoughts and are meant to be remembered as such. Only the important parts were picked out.

Anyways, there are a few repeats from the first. So I hope you enjoy this. Thank you to all my lovely reviewers and alert list people, I hope I do not disappoint. This chapter is un-beta-ed and therefore may have some mistakes. I wanted to get this out and an edited one will soon be uploaded. Mini doughnuts for all (I love those things).


	7. Sun and Moon

_**Disclaimer-**_ I am in no way making any money off of this. This is done purely out of enjoyment. All characters from Danny Phantom belong to Butch Hartman and Nickelodeon respectively; as do all characters from Harry Potter belong to J. K. Rowling.

Chapter 7

"_I'm Harry Potter. Welcome to Gryffindor."_

Danny grinned at all of them as Dumbledore sat down and began the feast. Food appeared out of nowhere onto the platters, and the staff and students began to eat – some with more gusto than others, as apparent by Ron Weasley, who attacked a chicken leg with vigor. Danny looked around as he helped himself to some potatoes and other mixed veggies. There seemed to be a relaxed atmosphere throughout the Hall, as if the Houses forgot they were supposed to be rivals and brought in the new school year with good will.

'_If only that would last,'_ Danny thought mournfully. After the food was gone and the students stepped out of the Hall, rivalries would begin again. Instead of the popular kids and different social cliques Danny was used to back home, he would have to get used to the House system here. Speaking of home, he started to wonder how Sam and Tucker were doing. How his house and family felt without his presence. How Valerie was fairing with the solo ghost hunting now that he was out of the picture. What about Vlad and–

Danny was startled out of his thoughts by a light tapping on his shoulder. The girl next to him, Lavender, was tapping his shoulder. Belatedly realizing he was being spoken to, Danny shook himself back to the present.

"I'm sorry, I didn't catch that. I'm such a scatterbrain," Danny apologized, to the teens around him, not knowing who had spoken.

"It's okay," Hermione replied. "I was only asking why you transferred to Hogwarts. I've heard the American magical education system is very different from our own. It looks completely fascinating, and I would give my arm to go on a transfer to one of your schools. Our system here is so old and set in out ways, yet America seems so different and new. You must tell us everything. Where do you go to school? Do they have a similar system to Hogwarts or one of the other European schools?" Hermione quizzed him, an eager look in her eyes. She couldn't wait to find out more.

"Uh, I was home schooled, sorta. The town I come from is known more for paranormal activity so my parents liked to keep a close watch on me. Erm, I think your arm is more important than going to America…" Danny trailed off. McGonagall had told him that Hermione Granger was passionate about knowledge, just not to_ this_ extent.

Ron butted in before Hermione could answer. "She would do it, believe me mate. She is slightly mental, if you catch my drift."

"Ron!" Hermione exclaimed in indignation, and swatted at him, her arm moving across Harry.

Harry rolled his eyes at Danny. He was used this behavior after four years of it.

"Are they always like this?" Danny asked, watching Hermione and Ron bicker on either side of Harry.

"Pretty much," replied Harry. "They'll get over it eventually," he grinned, thinking back on several petty arguments.

As the feast continued, Ron and Hermione eventually settled down to eat, still sending half-hearted glares at each other, and the topics of conversation changed from one various subject to the next. From fashion, it changed to upcoming classes, then to what happened during the summer. Harry's reply was 'Housework', which was not an outright lie. He did do housework at Grimmauld Place, but that wasn't the only task he had been put up to. Ridding the drawing room of Doxies did not count as housework; getting out the infestation of the horrid little beasts had turned into a war. Eventually the topic turned to the Sorting Hat's song, or more accurately to its warning.

"So, what do you reckon it meant?" Ron asked as he grabbed some treacle tart from the dessert spread that lay before them.

"I'm not sure. Sir Nicholas never fully explained it," answered Hermione as she looked around the table hoping to find the Gryffindor ghost.

"Well, since what happened last summer, I think it's right. With Voldemort out there, we'll need to be stronger than ever." Harry murmured this quietly, hoping that no one else heard him, however Danny picked up the statement.

"Believe me, it will take more than a miracle to unite the Houses together. I've been here a short time and I can feel the animosity between some of the houses." Danny said, looking grim.

Harry, Hermione, and Ron looked at Danny in surprise. Not only had he been paying attention to their conversation, but he didn't call Harry a liar, or a fool. In fact, it was as if Danny believed Harry.

"Wha-?" Was the most intelligent thing Harry utter. He wasn't used to this; a stranger that not only believed him and had only known him a few hours, agreed with his statement. He didn't even shudder when Harry said Voldemort! Harry's eyes narrowed. This was unusual. Even Hermione did not like say _his_ name.

"Before you ask, I do believe you. I was sent over from America as a peace offering, more than anything," Danny began reciting the story Dumbledore had come up for him. The plan was to make it seem as if America and Britain were cooperating, and that Danny was there as a show of faith from the American ministry. Of course, this wasn't true, but it would be hard to figure out. Dumbledore had some good connections in the American ministry, and they would cover for him. "I wouldn't have come here had my… uncle, not believed you guys needed some allies." Danny grimaced at the thought of calling Clockwork his uncle. He was more like a grandfather, if he could be related to anything.

"What do you mean allies? I've never heard your name in any books. What can you do?" Hermione asked Danny, a puzzled expression on her face.

"I can't do anything, but my uncle has connections within the American ministry. However I don't have a clear idea of what's going on so he pretty much told me to keep my mouth shut and head down," Danny said, finishing the story. It would work for now at least.

Harry still stared at Danny, wondering of he was being truthful. He could be a spy for all they know.

"How do we know you aren't a spy?" He asked suspicious of the transfer student's intentions.

"Uh, cause I'm not?" Danny gave a weak reply, knowing technically that he was… for their side. "I'm pretty sure the Headmaster wouldn't let me in if he didn't trust my uncle or me."

"But," Ron countered, "What about the Slytherins, and Malfoy?"

"I doubt all the Slytherins are spies for the Dark, Ronald," Hermione said, "Just think of… erm. You know who I mean."

"Yeah, yeah, the greasy git is all for the Light, I know. But what about Malfoy?" Ron asked his eyes shifting between Hermione and Danny.

Danny knew who Malfoy was; he knew about Harry and Draco Malfoy's rivalry. He knew a lot about Malfoy, probably more than he would ever need to know, but none-the-less it was useful. However, as a new student, he shouldn't know who Draco Malfoy was, nor what he looked like, or what shampoo he used. Giving a mental sigh, Danny begun to play dumb.

"Malfoy? Who is he?" Danny asked, trying his best to look puzzled.

"A real git. Has had it out for Harry since first year," Ron said, his head jerking towards the blond at the Slytherin table.

Danny was just about to ask what had happened in first year, but his question was cut short by Dumbledore rising from his seat and the Hall falling silent.

"Welcome back to a new year at Hogwarts. While you digest the wonderful feast that we have just finished, I beg your attention for just a few short moments for some notices. The Forbidden Forest is out-of-bounds to all students, as it has always been, and to which some of you should remember more often," Dumbledore glanced at the Gryffindor table briefly. "And we have two new staff changes as you may have noticed: Professor Grubbly-Plank will be teaching Care of Magical Creatures for the time being, and Professor Umbridge who will be teaching Defense Against the Dark Arts for the year."

At this there was a smattering of applause from the students. Not enthusiastic, but polite.

"During the summer a new ghost has taken residence among the castle. He currently is not present, as he is still exploring the grounds, but I will see to it he makes an introduction tomorrow at breakfast. I hope you will give a warm welcome to him."

At this statement a whirl of whispers started up. A new ghost had come to Hogwarts? The last one was Moaning Mertle, who had died over fifty years ago. Questions flitted around the student populace.

"What do you think," Ron began, but was swiftly cut off by Hermione.

"Shh."

"On another note," Dumbledore continued, "Quidditch tryouts will begin–"

He broke off his speech looking towards Professor Umbridge at the staff table. She had stood and was looking pointedly at the Headmaster. She cleared her throat. It was certain that she wanted to speak, for what reason no one knew, but her intent was clear. To the surprise of most staff and students Dumbledore proceeded to sit down and the new DADA Professor began her speech with clearing her throat again with an awful 'Hem, hem'.

The next ten minutes passed by very slowly to Danny, but he listened carefully to what this lady had to say. Dumbledore had warned him of this, that the ministry was interfering with Hogwarts, and by the sound of it they were meddling heavily. This must be the reason why Dumbledore suggested Defense Against the Dark Arts; by the way Professor Umbridge was talking it seemed like they would do very little, as she, as part of the ministry, must 'discourage progress'.

After she finished her speech, Dumbledore continued his start-of-the-year notices. Throughout the Hall several people were in deep thought about the new Professor's speech, Hermione being one of them.

Danny kept silent. He knew more than he should and one slip of the tongue could have his entire cover blown, and that would be just the tip of the ice burg. To his knowledge no one like him had ever existed, and just one wrong person finding out could mean his destruction.

Dumbledore soon finished and sent everyone to bed. Danny got up with the rest of his housemates and started walking towards the Great Hall's exit. As he heard the prefects – Ron and Hermione – call over the first years he noticed the reaction Harry got from some of them.

Fear. Uneasiness. Doubt. Harry was treated with a look filled with negative emotions.

Harry uttered a dull "see you later," before he took off quickly through the Great Hall.

Danny rushed to catch up to him. He knew those reactions. Amity Park's citizens, his parents, students of this school (the first time he had been here) all showed those reactions to him. He knew the feeling of rejection and fear, and that came from being a ghost. Harry was different however, as he was still alive and they feared him for different reasons. Stupid reasons, but when people don't like the truth they tend to push it away and scapegoat someone; Harry and Dumbledore in this case. But Harry had friends, like he had Sam and Tucker, and they helped. They always did, in anyway they could, for the most part.

"Harry! Hey Harry, wait up!" Danny called to Harry as he sprinted after him. Man could Harry move, he was already up the marble staircase. Danny reached the top of the stairs, looking around for any sign of the black haired boy, and having no luck. _'He must have taken a secret passage… which one?'_ Danny thought quickly. He had discovered a few passages, but he didn't know all of them. Harry, who had been here for four years, would know the routes better than him. He quickly dove into the one the thought would be the better short cut to Gryffindor Tower. He raced up the stairs of the concealed passageway and…success! There was the mop of black hair entering another covered short cut.

"Harry! Wait!" The figure stopped and turned around to see who was calling his name.

"Oh, Danny." Harry's eyes were dull, the life previously in them faded. "Hullo."

"Hi. Do you mind," Danny took a moment to regain his composure, "showing me the way to the common room. I don't really know where to go."

"Why didn't you follow the first years?"

"Uh, I didn't think of it? Yeah. That's right. Didn't think of it. Plus I wanted to talk to you more." Danny replied, swearing in his mind that he had to get better at impromptu stories. To his surprise, Harry glared at him.

"If you're wondering about last summer, no-comment. The Boy-Who-Lived doesn't feel like being gawked at today," Harry hissed.

"Erm, okay," Danny was surprised at the amount of venom laced in Harry's tone. Maybe this would be harder than previously thought. "I wasn't going to ask you about that. I wanted to ask what Quidditch was. I heard you were on the Gryffindor team and all…" Danny trailed off.

Harry blinked in surprise. That was all that he wanted? _'Way to be a jerk Harry, bite the new guy's head off why don't you?' _Harry berated himself.

"I mean, if you don't want to talk about anything right now, I get that. Sorry." Danny quickly interjected, praying that this would work. Two steps forward and one step back.

"No, I should apologize. I didn't mean to snap at you. Sorry," Harry apologized awkwardly, rubbing his neck with his hand. "Here, I'll show you to the common room."

"Thank you."

They walked up the short cut's flight of stairs in silence. As the duo reached the top of the stairs Harry turned towards Danny slightly.

"So you really don't know anything about Qudditch?"

"Other than it's played on brooms, not a clue." Danny chuckled.

"Well then, I'll start with the basics. First you have seven members to a team…"

...

Danny never knew someone could talk so passionately about a sport. The members of the football team back home played and talked with their buddies about it, but in the end it was mindless chatter for the most part. Most of the football team's conversations started with 'Did you see that pass of mine?' and ended 'Totally dude. Way to throw!'. Then again, Dash and his cronies were not the best subject material to base his knowledge on. By the time they reached the Fat Lady's portrait, Danny knew and could recite the basic rules of Quidditch. Harry was currently telling him about how in the first ever World Cup final all seven hundred fouls were committed when they arrived at the entrance to the Gryffindor common room.

"Password?" The Fat Lady enquired the two black haired boys.

"Erm," Harry looked at Danny.

"Don't look at me. I don't know it."

"Sorry dears. No password, no entry." The Fat Lady said looking at the two lazily while she lounged in her portrait.

"Shall we start guessing?" Harry asked Danny.

Danny looked at him. "It could be hundreds of different things though!"

"It's generally something obscure and magical," Harry said, voicing his thoughts.

"Everything in this world is obscure and magical," Danny replied, exasperated.

"True," Harry chuckled, frowning.

"Harry! Danny!" A shout behind them sounded. As they turned around they saw Neville jogging towards them with a plant in hand. "I know the password," Neville gasped, trying to catch his breath as he reached the top of the stairs.

"What is that?" Danny asked pointing at the plant Neville was carrying.

"A _Mimbulus mimbletonia_." Neville said, glancing at the plant lovingly.

"Correct." The Fat Lady's portrait swung open.

"That's the password?" Harry asked Neville.

"Yup. I'll never forget it now," Neville replied cheerfully. He actually had a shot at remembering the password.

"Well, that's certainly obscure and magical," Danny stated.

"Hear hear," Harry chuckled as they entered the common room.

The common room had yet to fill up as the majority of the students were still milling around the Great Hall or taking their time to get to their own common rooms. Danny noted the Fred and George Weasley were posting something on the message board.

"I am going to head to bed. What about you two?" Harry asked the other two boys with him, not wanting to stick around and face the stares and whispers of the other Gryffindors. He had enough drama already in his life.

"I'll come with you since I have no clue where we sleep," Danny said, taking in his surroundings.

The common rooms had special enchantments that kept ghosts away unless they allied with the House, or were invited in by the other Head Ghost of each house. Each house had a specific resident ghost, like how Sir Nicholas stayed with the Gryffindors, which became the Head Ghost of that particular house. They were the ones who allowed other spectral entities into the common rooms and dorms of each house.

The ghosts of Hogwarts didn't want Danny to become to attached to any certain house so they had kept him locked out of the different common rooms, promising to allow him access if he so wished it after he was Sorted. He had yet to decide on if he wanted access or not. It would be an act of trust between him and the Head Ghosts of the different houses, and he didn't want to abuse that trust. He was supposed to be neutral in school after all, but teenagers, including him, are known to be particularly vengeful if given the chance. He may have learnt his lesson with Pointdexter, but the temptation of using his powers was still there. He would have to think about that later and discuss it with the other Head Ghosts.

"I'll come with you guys," Neville said.

The trio of boys headed up to the Gryffindor fifth year dorms in silence. When the arrived they noticed two things. One was that Dean Thomas and Seamus Finnigan had arrived before them and were already setting up, and two, that there was one more bed in the room than usual with a trunk labeled 'Danny' in front of it.

Danny peered at the bed. "I wonder if it pops up out of the ground as soon as you're sorted, or something."

"I think it's the house elves," Harry said, going over to his trunk and opening it.

"What's a house elf?" Danny asked, going over to his own bed and getting ready to sleep, Neville doing the same.

"Erm, I'll show you one sometime." Harry offered as the only explanation.

"So, have a good summer, Harry?" Dean Thomas questioned Harry as he pulled on his West Ham pajamas.

"Yeah, I guess," Harry muttered, his thoughts going to the trial. "Yours?"

"It was okay, better than Seamus' anyways." Dean replied.

"What happened?" Neville asked as Harry looked over to where Seamus was busying himself with his posters.

"My mum didn't want me to come back," Seamus said quietly.

"Why not?" Danny asked, a small pit of dread filling his stomach, already guessing the answer.

"Well, for one you, Harry, and Dumbledore. Thinks he's lost his marbles, especially after being demoted off the Wizengamot. The Prophet's been saying a lot of things about you and Dumbledore, you know." Seamus turned toward where his pajamas lay and started putting them on.

"You and your mother actually believe the rubbish that the Prophet is publishing?" Harry asked enraged, drawing his wand yet keeping it by his side. "That I'm lying and Dumbledore is an old fool?"

"Something like that." Seamus said, his hands moving into fists, noticing the drawn wand.

At that moment Ron entered the room, which paused two boys fight and any retort Harry might have had.

"What's going on in here?" Ron demanded seeing Harry and Seamus close to blows, physical and magical.

"He's barking mad!" Seamus exclaimed, pointing at Harry.

"Him and his mum believe the trash in the Prophet." Harry growled.

"Don't you dare bring my mother into this."

"I'll bring in whoever deems me liar, including her."

Seamus turned to Ron, desperately. "Come on, you don't believe that he's telling the truth, with You-Know-Who coming back, do you?"

"Actually, I do. You're stepping out of line Seamus. I am a prefect," Ron said glaring at Seamus, "and I can give you a detention if you continue."

"You're all mad!" Seamus shouted.

"Enough!" Danny roared. The room shuddered, barely, and the room's temperature dropped several degrees. For a moment, each boy thought they saw Danny's normally soft, dark blue eyes glow a harsh glacial blue. It was gone in a flash, so the boys dismissed it as a trick of the light, but they were silenced.

"I've had enough of this bickering. Seamus, if Harry really bugs you that much, find a different dorm. That or check facts before accusing someone of lying," Danny all but spit at Seamus and turned to Harry. "Harry, let it go. You have good friends," he jerked his head towards Ron and Neville, "and that's all you'll ever need. The world is a fickle thing, and they'll realize the truth eventually when it smacks them on the face in the form of Murphy's Law. So drop it!" Danny heaved out a long breath and calmed down.

"Excuse me, I lost my temper." Danny grabbed the hangings around his bed, drew them closed, and collapsed onto the four-poster bed tired. He hadn't meant to get that irritated, nor did he mean for his ghost powers to activate. He hated it when people fought over pointless things. He let out a sigh and closed his eyes.

The five boys in the dorm looked at each other and looked back at Danny's closed off bed. It seemed to them that the new transfer student had a greater bite than expected.

"Well, that was unexpected," Ron said, breaking the silence and stating the obvious.

"Yeah," mumbled Harry.

Everything went into motion again, with the boys getting ready for bed. The tension between Seamus and Harry had not diminished very much, but the were not openly hostile towards each other any more.

As Harry climbed into bed, he heard Neville murmur something.

"What was that, Nev?" He asked, Morpheus already taking a hold of his mind.

"I said my Gran and I never doubted you or Dumbledore. We're with you one hundred percent of the way."

"Thanks Nev." Harry smiled. All he got in reply were soft snores.

...

Danny waited until he was absolutely positive that everyone in the dorm was asleep. He listened carefully for when all the breathing evened out, a sign that they were gone into dreamland. Thankful for how thick the hangings were, as they blocked out most of the light when he transformed, he went ghost and began to fly up through the roof and towards Dumbledore's office.

He enjoyed flying through the castle at night; Hogwarts was beautiful when evening fell. Without the life of the students flowing through her halls it was if the castle herself made the walls come alive with different colours of lights. The portraits also were more alive after curfew, as they didn't have to be as well behaved compared to when the students roamed the halls. Danny had seen several portraits playing cards, and some of the players had horrible language. It wasn't a wonder as to why Dumbledore asked them to behave.

Danny arrived in front of the great wooden door that led into the Headmaster's office. He knocked, rather than just dropping in.

"Come in, Danny." Came the soft voice from behind the door.

Danny entered. "Evening, Headmaster. You told me to come see you after the Sorting and feast."

"Good evening Danny," Dumbledore replied, smiling with a twinkle in his eye. "Indeed I did. Thank you for coming. So, how does the situation seem to you?"

"Well, most people believe you sir, and Harry, are mad. Even a couple of Harry's housemates." Danny said, troubled by how the wizarding population could change their opinion of one person on the tip of a dime. "Other than that, it seems like the Houses are divided almost beyond repair, and that worries me. I know what school is like. In every school there are cliques and certain groups of friends, but I know for a fact when put under pressure they can band together to fight. I've done it before. However the Houses are so divided… it would be very difficult."

"I agree with you Danny, but I cannot influence how the Houses ally or rival themselves. That is something I think you must do," Dumbledore responded quietly to Danny's observations, the twinkle in his eyes a little bit duller.

"Yeah, suppose so. Well, I can try, but I do not guarantee a perfect result. Especially since I'm in Gryffindor, the Slytherins wouldn't touch me with a ten foot pole, or longer." Danny sighed.

"Did you enjoy the feast?"

Danny blinked. That was rather out of the blue. "Yeah, I did. Thank you."

"Good good," Dumbledore was smiling again. "Oh and please do come down as Phantom tomorrow morning. You can make the excuse of being late to breakfast, if you don't mind? I would dearly like to introduce you to the students."

"Uh, yeah. Fine. This is like a second sorting," Danny groaned at the thought of having to go in front of the entire school again.

"Courage, my boy, courage," chuckled Dumbledore. The twinkle was back. "But I would think it be best if you go to bed now. You'll have a long day tomorrow."

"Kay. How will you get into contact with me if you need me for a mission though?" Danny asked the Headmaster as an afterthought.

The old wizard stood up and went to one of the many shelves that held many a silver trinket. He reached up to one of the higher shelves and grabbed an intricately carved wooden box. He slowly strode over to his desk and opened the box and took out a necklace.

The necklace wasn't spectacular, but it was a fine piece of handiwork. It was a crescent moon, small and silver. But the most interesting part was that it had runes carved all over it.

"Here," Dumbledore said handing the necklace over to Danny. "The runes will allow me to contact you. It will become warm when I wish to speak to you. It works in reverse too," he continued by pulling out a second necklace with a sun attached. "Whenever you need to talk to me I'll always meet you in here."

Danny took the moon necklace. "But what about when I'm in ghost mode?"

"The runes will prevent it from going through you and will change intangible and invisible along with you. The communication should not be interrupted," explained Dumbledore.

"Okay, thanks." Danny said as he walked to the door tying the necklace around his neck. Just after he exited, he poked his head through the door. "Hey, could I borrow the Sorting Hat sometime?"

"Whatever for?" Dumbledore asked quizzically.

"It said it wouldn't mind chatting with me again."

"I shall think about it. Good night Danny," Dumbledore dismissed him, looking at him oddly. No one had ever asked him to see the Sorting Hat again after being sorted, nor had the Hat ever asked to see someone again.

"Night."

With that Danny flew back to the dorm he shared with Harry and the others. Making sure they were all still asleep, he transformed back to human and settled down in his bed. Just thinking about tomorrow gave him a headache.

'_I hope tomorrow goes well,'_ was Danny's last thought as he drifted off.

...

AN: Wow. I'm drawing a lot of parallels between Danny and Harry. Never noticed this much before. Just note: I followed OotP's plot here a bit, but changed it around, as you may notice. I hope it turned out okay, with adding Danny into the mix. Soon this will deviate more from OotP.

Hello readers. I'm sorry to update so late, but the past few months have been harsher than expected and it drained me of all inspiration and motivation to write this. I had to step away and write something different. Anyways, please enjoy chapter seven. I can't promise an exact update schedule, but it hopefully won't be five months later.

Thank you all to the reviewers, who helped inspire me, especially the one who checked up on me after I hadn't updated so long (thank you). You guys gave me faith. Same to all of those who added this story to their alert lists, you guys rock! Love to my beta, Susie.


	8. Sleeping Fenton, Hidden Phantom

_**Disclaimer-**_ I am in no way making any money off of this. This is done purely out of enjoyment. All characters from Danny Phantom belong to Butch Hartman and Nickelodeon respectively; as do all characters from Harry Potter belong to J. K. Rowling.

Chapter 8

'_I hope tomorrow goes well,__'__ were Danny__'__s last thoughts._

The first day of classes were always hectic, mornings being the worst. The Gryffindors were never known to be early risers, unlike students in other houses, but the common room was buzzing early that morning. Nerves were high as students finished last minute homework, revised previous lessons, and chatted with friends. Conversations ranged from the first years wondering what classes would be like, to the seventh years hoping they didn't have anything too difficult first thing in the morning.

The fifth year boys dormitory was relatively quiet for all the drama that had ensued the previous night. All of the four poster beds had been vacated by their current owners, save one. Danny Fenton was curled up into a ball, sleeping.

A small creak was heard as the door to the dorm opened to reveal Neville peaking in, looking at the still closed curtains around Danny's bed. Sighing and shaking his head he walked over to the bed and pulled back the curtains.

"Danny," Neville said quietly, while poking the sleeping boy's shoulder. "Danny, wake up. It's a quarter to eight. Breakfast will begin soon." Neville hoped this would be enough to wake the sleeping boy - he didn't want to take more drastic measures. To his disappointment, his calling and nudging did not wake his dorm-mate, even as he raised his voice and but more force into his pokes.

"Okay, you asked for it," Neville informed the sleeping figure of Danny apologetically. He took out his wand and concentrated. He knew he could do this, it was a simple watering spell that Professor Sprout had taught him. He had used it before and never had any problems with it, and he wasn't going to start now. A small flick, a whispered spell and… there! A small sprinkling of water started to shoot out of his wand.

The water hit Danny and he moved uneasily for a second, his sleep muddled brain catching up with the sensation of water falling on him. Water. Wet. Getting wetter…

"Holy Clockwork the roof has sprung a leak!" shouted Danny as he quickly sat up.

"Woah!" Neville cried, not expecting such a sudden reaction from Danny, and cancelled the spell.

Danny looked around wildly, ready for anything, and spotted Neville a few feet away looking rather surprised. Again, as Danny was still half asleep, it took a moment for him to realize what was happening and where he was.

"Oh. Hi, Neville. What's going on?" Asked Danny as he looked up to the ceiling of his bed, looking for where water could have entered.

"Um, I'm here to wake you. Or rather I was here to wake you. You weren't responding to my calls so I kind of… used a sprinkling spell to wake you," Neville laughed nervously, hoping he hadn't made the other boy mad at him. "Breakfast is soon, and it's the first day of classes. You shouldn't be late."

Danny blinked at him. So that's where the water had come from. "Sorry Neville, usually I'm a light sleeper. I'll be down in a bit." Danny smiled, showing that he was not angry at the other, feeling the nervousness radiate off him.

"Okay, I'll see you down there then." Neville gave a shaky smile and walked out of the dorm.

Danny continued to sit in bed, his mind catching up. Today was the first day of classes, and today was also the day he was to introduce himself as Phantom to the entire school. _'__Goody,__'_ Danny thought bitterly. _'__Not only will I have to function through an entirely different school system the entire day, but I get to introduce myself in front of hundreds of people__…__ again.__'_

Danny let his thoughts wander. Today was a big day, and he had to pull it off right. First, he would have to travel downstairs to the Great Hall as Phantom and introduce himself. Then he would have to escape the Great Hall and transform back to human. After that he would rush into the Great Hall and apologise to his housemates, using the excuse of getting lost in the castle as his reason for being late. If they asked him why he didn't follow the other students, he could say he got out of the dorm late and didn't notice anyone that would be able to help. Yes, this plan was perfect. It had to be. It was last minute, and last minute plans always worked for him, right? Right.

Danny groaned. He was doomed. He did not get a lot of sleep the previous night, which was why he was difficult to wake up this morning, and the fact that he had to face all of the students again, even as a different person, scared him. Being a human and classmate was one thing, being a magical-like ghost was completely different. The opinions of people and society, especially the wizarding world, didn't always take kind to those who were different. Harry being the prime example of this.

The raven haired boy looked towards the clock. It was seven fifty-five. He had to go. He quickly dressed into his robes, grabbed his book bag and wand, and transformed. "Going Ghost," he whispered quietly, just in case someone was passing by. The neon blue rings of light soon transformed him from Danny Fenton to Danny Phantom, Ghost Boy extraordinaire.

He floated down through the floor to the common room, invisible, and checked it out. It was completely deserted.

"Guess I'm not the only one with high-strung nerves today," Danny mused as he passed through the portrait door and into the hallways. He flew through the deserted hallways, passing through walls and floors alike until he got near to the doors of the Great Hall. He stuffed his book bag in a dark corner and was about to turn around when his ghost sense went off. He turned around sharply to come face to face with Sir Nicholas. He blinked in surprised, still not used to the fact that whenever his ghost sense went off there wasn't a malevolent ghost attempting to maim/capture/destroy him.

"Morning Nick!" Danny said too cheerfully.

"Good morning young Phantom. I say, what a good day for the start of classes. The sun is bright, the air is crisp, and the leaves have begun to change," Sir Nicholas responded jovially, neatly ignoring the use of his 'Nick'-name.

"Erm, how can you tell the air is crisp?" Danny asked curiously, knowing that the ghost was intangible twenty-four seven.

"It's all in the blood!" exclaimed Sir Nicholas, and before Danny could comment on him not having any blood, he continued. "As a huntsman in my previously life we were trained to tell what type of day it would be by just looking, and not feeling. It's a skill I have not lost, I am proud to say."

"Ah," was all Danny could think to reply with. He really had to work on his conversational skills with Nick, or else this was going to be a very long year.

"Yes yes, now I assume you are here to introduce yourself to the student body?" Sir Nicholas inquired.

"Yeah, the Headmaster believes it to be a good idea. I don't think it's a bad idea, mind you, but I must admit I'm nervous." explained Danny, rubbing his arm in a nervous habit.

"I shall make him aware of your presence and come back to fetch you," Sir Nicholas chuckled, amused by the young ghost's nervousness.

With that Sir Nicholas left, leaving Danny alone to think to himself.

'_Okay Fenton, you can do this. You know you can. You__'__ve faced worst than this before. You__'__ve even faced the students before at the sorting! There is absolutely no reason to panic about this. None at all. None__…__ hold that thought.__'_ Danny continued to give himself a pep-talk.

Sir Nicholas came back for him all too soon.

"Dumbledore is ready for you. He is currently about to make a speech, so come in invisible so as not to cause to much of a distraction." Sir Nicholas instructed Danny, putting a comforting hand on the boy's shoulder.

Danny nodded and went invisible. Soon he was in the Hall, above the students, much like the first time he had come here to this world. Except this time he wasn't fighting Walker, and this time they wouldn't find out his secret. Not if he could help it. He tuned into Dumbledore's speech.

"Good morning to all! I hope you all had a restful evening, and a good night's sleep as today we dive into the academics." Dumbledore looked around at the four house tables filled with students and smiled, his blue eyes twinkling with happiness. "Now, some of you are probably wondering why I am addressing you at such an early hour, especially when you are all worried about classes. This morning I am here to introduce our new member of the castle's ghosts. He is unusual for being a spectre, as he is powerful enough to hold a corporal form unlike the rest of the ghosts here. I assure you that he has nothing but good intentions." Dumbledore paused, listening to the murmurs that spouted from each table, the Gryffindor one especially.

At the Gryffindor table, Ron was in a hushed conversation with Hermione and Neville, with Harry just listening. Hermione was going over every spectral form that could hold a corporal state and why, while Ron and Neville were dismissing most of them, as most spirits like that had to be summoned with Dark Magic.

At the Ravenclaw table the students were doing much the same as Hermione was, just with a much more heated debate and with more members. Luna Lovegood, however, was just staring off into space, thinking that perhaps this was the work of Crumple-Horned Snorkacks.

With the Hufflepuffs, many - including Hannah Abbot - were just hoping that their Headmaster was correct in saying that the castle's new addition had only good intentions. Peeves teased the Hufflepuffs the worst, and they were not sure if the could handle more than one Poltergeist.

The Slytherins were the quietest however, with on-going polite conversation while sly thoughts brewed within their minds. One sly mind in particular stood out, as Draco Malfoy thought to pass this information onto his father, to see if the Dark Lord could use a powerful ghost in anyway possible. Perhaps court this ghost to the Dark Lord's side and cause to be a spy. Young ghosts were more willing to trust the living as they wanted to keep a connection with humanity, unlike the older ones who abandon it. They were easy to manipulate, and Draco hoped the ghost had died recently.

At the slight tugging on his robe sleeve, Dumbledore knew that Danny was beside him, invisible, and ready to be introduced to the student body and most of the staff as Phantom.

"Ladies and gentlemen, I am pleased to present out new addition," boomed Dumbledore's voice, sounding like a ringmaster, as the students once again quieted. "This is Phantom," Dumbledore gestured to his side, "and I will leave him to introduce himself."

The students stared at the empty space where their Headmaster had gestured to. '_Maybe he had really lost his marbles this time,__'_was the collective thought around the Hall.

But suddenly there was someone there! Out of thin air! All previous whispers were taken up again with a vengeance, some turning into outright talking. The ghost who appeared didn't even look like a ghost. There, in front of the Staff Table, was a boy - no teenager - with shocking white hair, neon green eyes, and a body suit of some sort.

"Silence!" Dumbledore's voice boomed over them once again. The students became quiet once again. "Thank you." He nodded at Danny.

"Erm, uh… Hi." Danny started off shakily, the ghostly echo making his voice waver more. "My name is Phantom." Good, got the introduction finished. Keep going. "I am, erm, _was _fifteen I guess. Old habits die hard, you know? Get it? Die hard?" Danny laughed nervously as there was total silence throughout the Hall. The students were all staring at him, all with different expressions. Some curiosity, some shock, some sadness… and was that attraction? No. No, it couldn't be. Danny shook his head. He could also feel the stares of the teachers behind him. One felt particularly… hateful.

"Uh, anyways. Pleased to meet you all. Okay, thank you, and good bye!" Danny babbled, the words rushing out of his mouth. He turned invisible again, and rushed out of the Great Hall.

The talking began as soon as Phantom had disappeared.

"So, think he really is a ghost?" Ron asked Hermione as food began appearing on the plates. Classes began in thirty-five minutes, as Phantom's introduction took about fifteen, and they had started at ten after.

"I don't doubt that Ron, but the question is: what type of spectral being is he," stated Hermione as she buttered a piece of toast.

"There's more than one type?" Asked Harry, as he started to eat a bowl of oatmeal with sugar sprinkled on top.

"Of course there is! There is a difference between Peeves and the other Hogwarts ghosts. As you know Peeves is a poltergeist, while the others are more of a magical and spiritual imprint. They were given a choice after they died to leave and imprint behind. They are pretty much stuck here. Peeves created born from death and harmful mischief. In his death, he was not given a choice. It was a punishment that he could never move on, however in turn he could still cause the same mischief." Hermione explained to Harry, already in lecture mode before classes began.

"Oh, then what's Phantom?" Harry blinked owlishly, surprised at how much information there was on ghosts.

"That's what we're trying to figure out, mate," Ron chimed in.

"He is no ordinary spirit, that's for sure," Neville said, deep in thought.

"Yeah," Hermione nodded.

As breakfast continued on at the Gryffindor table, Neville noticed someone was missing. Someone important. "Hey, has anyone seen Danny?"

The fifth years around Neville looked up and shook their heads. They hadn't seen the transfer student all morning.

"I thought you woke him up, Nev," remarked Harry.

Neville looked towards the doorway of the Great Hall. "I did, he said he would get down here in a bit. It's getting late and breakfast will be over within twenty minutes."

"Maybe we should look for him?" Suggested Hermione. "He may have gotten lost."

Just as they were about to search for him, and in Harry's case use the Marauder's Map, Danny rushed into the Great Hall making his way over to where Neville sat.

"Hey," panted Danny, slightly out of breath.

"Where have you been? I woke you up ages ago, and you only have about fifteen minutes to eat." Neville quizzed Danny as he took a seat.

"I got lost." Everyone stared at him in slight disbelief. "What?" Danny asked in indignation. "It's a big castle, and I'm not used to it. Plus I couldn't find anyone to bring me here. Then this crazy portrait led me on a wild chase. If it hadn't been for Nick, I doubt I would have made it here."

"Wow mate, it sounds like you were trying to find the Divination Tower or something. The Great Hall's not that hard to find," Ron said in slight awe.

"Well… you know. Horrible sense of direction and all." Danny muttered, stabbing a few sausages while everyone chuckled.

"Don't worry about it," assured Hermione kindly. "It was difficult for us the first time learning the different routes to classes." Ron and Harry were sniggering quietly. "And need I remind these two several of several incidences, such as Transfiguration and Divination." The duo of boys quickly shut up.

As breakfast ended, timetables were passed out from the Head of Houses. Danny eagerly awaited his, excited to find out which classes he had. Hopefully he had some of his elective classes with his new friends. School wasn't as much fun without them.

As Professor McGonagall made her way from one end of the Gryffindor table to the other, handing out the timetables, she paused by the fifth years. "Mr. Fenton, due to you particular course picks, we had to arrange a slightly different schedule," she began, handing Danny his timetable. "We had to arrange it so you would have Muggle Studies with the Ravenclaws on Mondays and Fridays, and with the Gryffindors on Wednesdays. You will have the same course load, just different classmates," McGonagall finished sternly, looking at Danny through the bottom of her glasses.

Danny looked the timetable she had given him as the Professor of Transfiguration walked away.

"I can't believe it," groaned Ron. "This has got to be the worst Monday morning ever."

"Ron, you say that every year," Hermione snapped, digging out her homework planner from her bag and taking out a quill and ink. She was already planning study sessions and scheduling her homework for the evenings.

"But you do have to admit," protested Harry, "this morning will not be pleasant."

"Why do you say that?" Danny asked, curious to why they were reacting so bad. He had Muggle Studies and double Potions, two classes he enjoyed taking, even if he was a bit behind in potion knowledge.

"You have different timetable than us?" Hermione asked quizzically.

"Erm, I guess."

"Here. Let me see," she grabbed Danny's timetable out of his hands and looked it over. "Why aren't you taking History of Magic, Charms, and Transfiguration?" She frowned. Those were important courses to magic.

"History of Magic, because your course focuses more on the European side of magic, whereas I am versed in American. Charms because my home schooling never really went in depth with it, so I would be behind. Transfiguration because I don't like it and therefore never passed Hogwarts' fourth year test for it," Danny explained, lying smoothly. He was getting better at this, points for him. However, was if this was a good thing or bad thing, he had yet to decide on.

"I understand about History of Magic, but why was you teacher so willing to let you drop behind in Charms and Transfiguration completely?" Hermione continued quizzing Danny.

"I agree with Hermione there mate," Ron threw in his two cents, "and on the subject of schoolwork that's rare." Harry nodded his agreement with Ron and Hermione's statement.

"Oh, well. Small town, thought I better focus on what I want to continue on after schooling. Which, by the way, is astronomy," Danny added as an afterthought. "Charms are useful, I will not deny that, and I can catch up in the subject when I get home, but I've never seen the point of Transfiguration."

At that the Golden Trio looked at each other in surprise, thinking what Transfiguration taught them. They had never really thought about how it could be practical in the world outside of class.

"Well, if you only have a block of wood and you need a bench, you could transfigure the wood into a bench," started Hermione, slowly thinking it over. "It saves a lot of time and work. Plus if you needed another material, you would be able to change it."

"Yeah, like the matches into needles we did in first year," Harry stated, thinking back on the first few Transfiguration classes they took.

"I could never get the red colour out," muttered Ron.

"You think you did bad? Mine barely changed at all," Neville commented sadly.

Danny listen to their opinions. Guess they made sense, in a way. But for him, Transfiguration would never hold much hope for him.

Danny shrugged and stood up in response. Stretching and grabbing his book bag. "Sorry to be off-topic, but do you guys know where the Muggle Studies room is?"

The others looked around, realizing it was almost time for class.

"Yeah, I do," Neville said standing up beside Danny. "It's near the History of Magic classroom. I'll show you on the way there."

"Thanks Neville," Danny grinned, happy to see the boy wasn't nervous around him like this morning after he had woken up.

"We'll join you," Hermione spoke up while standing and grabbing the two boys on either side of her to stand up.

"Okay," Danny replied, as they all started to walk out of the Great Hall.

As they traveled through the busy hallways, Ron, Hermione, and Harry were talking quietly amongst themselves. Students glared at Harry, and whispers began from several groups while they walked. Ron returned those glares with a passion, noted Danny as he went into silent thought.

Soon they had arrived at the History of Magic classroom, and Danny said goodbye, following Neville's instructions to get to the Muggle Studies classroom. He stood in the hallway for a minute, outside the classroom, thinking.

'_I can do this,'_ Danny thought, determined. He stepped through the doorway, and was prepared to learn the wizard's point of view on his lifestyle.

...

Finished! Haha. Shorter than last chapter, but I've been busy. My birthday, Christmas, New Years, travel! It's been an amazing holiday. I hope all of you had a great holiday too. This is the first chapter I've written on my new laptop, named Zelos. Goodies for anyone who recognizes who I named him after.

Anyways, notes on this chapter: Mostly planning, soon there will be a bit of a time jump and maybe a peek into Amity (Vlad's getting frustrated at where his enemy has disappeared) and Danny's first experience with Owl post! On another note: About classes: I hoped Danny's explanations suited why he didn't take the other courses. They were covers, but I still hope they made logical sense. I also actually made an entire timetable for Danny, Ron, Harry, and Hermione. I mean I literally wrote one out. So, I'll maybe post a picture of what they look like (they're on yellow sticky notes!). I scheduled in all of the cannon classes for the Trio, when they had them in the book, then made the rest up. More info on that later. And, one last thing, Neville's going to play a bit bigger part than I had originally planned.

Thank you to all my wonderful reviewers! I enjoy reading, and replying to everyone I get. You inspire me so. Drop a review by if you like it, hate it, or spot a mistake! Thank you to my wonderful beta Susie. Happy Belated New Years!


	9. Homework, Detention and Trouble, Oh My!

_Disclaimer - _I am in no way making any money off of this. This is done purely out of enjoyment. All characters from Danny Phantom belong to Butch Hartman and Nickelodeon respectively; as do all characters from Harry Potter belong to J. K. Rowling.

_Apologies and Author__'__s Note at the end of the Chapter. Yes! It's a new chapter!  
_

Chapter 9

'_I can do this,__'__ Danny thought, determined. He stepped through the doorway, and was prepared to learn the wizard__'__s point of view on his lifestyle._

When Danny exited the Muggle Studies classroom a short while later he knew he would never look at a toaster the same way again - not that he had a normal view of a toaster. The many experiments his parents did with their appliances had mutated theirs. It was a fifty-fifty chance to get regular toast or mutant toast. Sometimes it came out half and half, and if you put anything on the bread before toasting it, it was more likely to come up mutant.

Danny wandered down the hallway lost in thought, not paying too much attention to where his feet were taking him. A light tapping on his shoulder brought him out of his head and into reality as he whipped around. It was Neville.

"Hullo Danny," Neville said, smiling.

"Hey Neville," Danny replied, returning the smile.

"So, how did your first class at Hogwarts go?" Neville asked as he redirected them to their next class.

"It was..." Danny paused, trying to think of an appropriate word for the Muggle Studies class. "It was interesting. Very interesting. How was History of Magic?"

Neville grinned. "It was the usual. Professor Binns droned on about the Goblin Wars and the uprising of Gurblag the Blunt. Nothing new there."

"That doesn't sound nearly as interesting as my lesson on microwaves," Danny said, smiling at the thought of his Professor's fascination with it. The Professor was a little more than obsessed with muggles and their inventions. She had shown several slides from her personal collection of oddities. She had a particular liking for toasters. The Professor reminded him a lot of his parents and their obsession with ghosts. At least she didn't invent things.

"A mike-row-wave is that Muggle thing used to heat food, right?" Neville asked, sounding out the word as if he was foreign to the concept.

Danny was slightly surprised. He had forgotten that many wizarding children were never introduced to muggle culture.

"That's exactly what it does. It saves muggles time when they need a fast meal. Like a mircowaveable hot pocket or TV dinner." Danny said, trying to explain in the best way he could.

"What's a hot pocket?"

"Oh, uh. Nevermind." Danny mentally slapped his head. "It heats up food. Leftovers from a previous meal and pre-made meals made by other people."

Neville was still unsure about the whole subject, but he gave Danny a nod anyways. He would ask Hermione about it later. She would be an expert in the subject.

They slowly wound their way down through the large castle towards their next class. Danny was excited for this class. Sure, he had heard a few, well a lot, of rumours about Professor Snape and how he was unfair to everyone except his Slytherins, but Danny didn't care. He liked the idea of mixing seemingly unordinary ingredients to make something fantastic. It was also a lot like chemistry which he had enjoyed at Casper High (although he was still banned from holding any glass objects). A pang of homesickness rung throughout Danny at the thought of his high school and Sam and Tucker. Danny quickly shook it off and continued talking to Neville.

As the pair got closer and closer to the dungeons, Neville got paler and paler. His usual healthy glow turned to sickly white.

"Neville, are you okay?" Danny asked, concerned about his friend.

"I'm fine," Neville said, grimacing. Danny shot him a disbelieving look. "Honestly mate, I'll be fine after this class ends. I'm just terrible at potions." Neville sighed. "I'm only ever good at it when Hermione partners with me since she's brilliant. It counteracts my terribleness."

Danny frowned as the walked through the door into the dimly lit Potion's classroom. It had changed since his summer crash course, becoming darker and slightly foreboding. He guessed with Professor Snape's twisted sense of humour this was on purpose. Danny shivered as he took a seat beside Neville.

Students were coming in swiftly and quietly as whispers threaded throughout classroom while seats were taken. Everyone was settling in nicely when the door shut violently, causing several students to jump in surprise - Danny being one of them.

It seemed that Snape had materialized out of nowhere at the front of the classroom, his piercing black eyes commanding silence with a promise of punishment if it was broken.

"So," the Professor drawled as he loomed over his desk, "it seems that you all have made it to fifth year potions, which for some of you," he looked directly at Neville, "is an achievement of moronic luck. For most of you, fifth year shall be the year that that luck runs out as you have your OWL examinations. These examinations will thoroughly test everything that has been taught to you about the magical composition and use of potions. I will not accept anything less than an Outstanding OWL into my NEWT classes. I dare say I will be saying goodbye to most of you," he looked pointedly at the Gryffindors, "whereas only the privileged few will achieve such a mark," he finished, looking at his Slytherins on the other side of the classroom. "If anything less than an Acceptable is presented to me, you shall suffer my dissatisfaction."

As Danny watched Neville sink into his seat, he had a feeling that Snape had practiced this speech beforehand. Maybe he gave it to every fifth year class. He shuddered. Severus Snape could certainly be… well intimidating would be a good word for it. Snape had never been exactly _kind_ to him during the summer, but he was never like this.

"Today you shall be brewing the Draught of Peace," Professor Snape waved his wand and the chalk started writing the instructions on the board as he started to explain the intricacies of the potion.

'_For Clockwork__'__s sake,__'_ Danny thought as he groaned. Snape could not have picked a more finicky potion. He looked at Neville; Neville was shaking.

"C'mon Nev," Danny whispered, "we can do this."

Neville looked at him with a facial expression that plainly said 'yeah right, you're mental' and went to get his supplies ready and station prepared with

Danny sighed and looked around the classroom. Already Herminone was starting on her potion, while Harry looked sullenly into his cauldron. Ron was going over his equipment, as was Seamus, Lavender and Dean. On the other side of the room, Draco Malfoy looked just as intent as Hermione, while his friends-turned-goons stood beside their stations looking baffled at the instructions on the chalkboard.

"Mr. Fenton, is there a problem?" a soft voice asked from behind him. Danny almost jumped. Almost.

"Uh, no sir. Just y'know, getting things ready to make the Draught," Danny mumbled, feeling silly that he only had his fire lit and the cauldron above it.

"Five point from Gryffindor Mr. Fenton for wasting time," Snape smiled, his upper lip curling as he took away the points. "I would like to see you after class to have a word as well." He then continued his observational stroll around his classroom, black robes flowing behind him.

Danny frowned and got to work on his potion, trying to act efficiently to make up for 'wasted time'.

The classroom, for the most part, was devoid of voices as everyone concentrated on their potion trying not to screw it up. Ron was quietly counting his stirring when Snape's voice filled the classroom. The room, if possible, got quieter as the students tried to concentrate and listen to what was happening at the same time. A few, including Danny, were looking.

"I forgot the hellebore," Harry's voice loudly proclaimed, laced with anger. Danny had to concentrate on his potion, but he heard Snape use what he thought must be a cleaning spell of some sort to clear away Harry's potion. Once again, Danny frowned. This expression was gaining popularity in this class. Snape was being unfair.

Soon it was time to bottle their attempts at the Draught of Peace and hand them in for marking. Danny felt his stomach drop. His was nearly the right colour - it was just a few shades darker! Also, instead of the sweet lilac scent it was supposed to smell like, Danny found his smelling more like a rose. At least it was… flowery? Maybe he wouldn't be able to make it through the school year after all.

The halfa stayed at his seat while the rest of the class hurried out to lunch. Neville quickly scurried out, but said he would be waiting for Danny in the Great Hall to eat lunch together.

The door closed as the last student left. It was just him and Snape. Danny reminded himself that Snape was just another teacher, however imposing he seemed in the classroom. Snape was also one of the best teachers during his cram session because he was strict, but not cruel. Danny could handle this.

What he didn't expect however was to see the Professor collapse at his desk and sigh. Snape looked mildly irritated, as if just being in the presence of the student body irked him. It probably did.

"Uhm, Professor?" Danny asked in a quiet voice, as Snape took a small flask out of his robes and took a swing.

Snape capped the flask and returned it to the desk drawer. He looked up and raised an eyebrow at Danny.

"I was wondering why you asked to see me after class," continued Danny as he fidgeted in his seat.

"Daniel, I asked you to stay behind to inquire how much you know about the relationship between the four houses of this school." Snape said, his usual black eyes blank and without much emotion behind them.

Danny sighed. He could never get Professor Snape to call him Danny. "Uh, well I know there is a huge rivalry between Gryffindor and Slytherin, Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff are on pretty good terms with everyone, though usually the Ravens side with the Snakes, where the Badgers side with the Lions." Danny said slowly, recalling what he had been told and what he had observed.

"That is correct. There are always exceptions and, as of late, no one has sided with Slytherin. I am unfair to the other houses to try and counter the attacks on Slytherin, and make them feel like there is someone out there that will help them even if it is their Head of House." Snape explained. "I know it isn't the best course of action, Merlin knows it isn't, but for the moment it is the most I can do for them. Most of them are good students."

"Uh, okay." Danny was curious as to why Professor Snape was explaining this to him. At least Danny now understood why Professor Snape was acting like this.

"I apologize, Daniel. I'm not being very clear, and maybe it will make more sense to you later on when you accompany me on a mission and see who serves the Dark Lord. Go to lunch now."

Danny nodded - he had nothing to say. The black haired boy grabbed his bag and was about to exit the door when Snape called him back.

"You have detention this Sunday morning."

"What?" Danny asked, outraged. He hadn't done anything wrong! He didn't even break a glass vial or drop an important item or even cause trouble.

"Dumbledore has appointed me to make sure you are keeping up with your school year. I will absolutely make sure you are. Understand?" Snape's eyes were glittering in the low light.

"Yes sir," Danny muttered angrily and left the dungeons quickly. Why couldn't they check his work on a school night?

...

Danny made his way to the Great Hall for lunch, still frustrated about the detention, when he bumped into Harry on his was out of the Hall. A collective 'Oof' was heard as they both collided and hit the floor.

"Watch where you're going," Harry growled on the floor, anger still flooding him as he glared at his housemate.

"You watch it too," said Danny scathingly back as he picked himself off the floor.

Harry continued glaring at him as he stood up and started walking again, brushing past the other boy and heading towards the stairs. Said other boy was wondering why he was so upset. It wasn't like _he_ got detention.

This called for one thing Danny was decent at - spying. Danny jogged after Harry, hiding behind the odd group of students, suits of armour and statues and getting odd looks along the way. Danny realized halfway through his adventure that he could have followed Harry invisibly while still human thus making it much easier to follow him. But then he wouldn't have felt like a secret agent. He decided to continue on his venture fully visible - for now.

Harry finally slowed down to a stop in one of the towers, and plopped down below a trapdoor. He sat there, with his head in his hands, muttering.

Danny was curious. He backtracked until he found an abandoned classroom.

"I'm going ghost," Danny said his battle cry - although there was no battle - quietly.

Fenton was replaced by Phantom. Danny did a small flip in the air. He liked being in his ghost form - it gave him more freedom, however it came with a large side of trouble as well.

He floated towards Harry and became visible. The other boy didn't look up. A minute passed by. Well, this was going anywhere was it now.

"Hi," Danny Phantom said.

Harry reacted badly - he tried to get away by moving backwards, however there was a wall blocking the way. A wall isn't a problem if you're a ghost, as you would just phase through it. Harry was not a ghost. It was wall versus Harry, and wall won. Harry ended up knocking his head pretty hard on the wall.

"Bloody hell," Harry cursed as he held his head in pain.

"Ah, uh I'm sorry," Phantom apologized sheepishly. "I didn't mean to scare you." Danny paused. Even to him, that sounded really lame.

Harry was rubbing his head. "Isn't that your job? Scaring people?" He said, trying to rub the pain away.

"No, not really. I like to pro-" Phantom cut himself off. "I uh, like to be proactive! And be helpful and… yeah. I'm just going to stop myself there."

The Boy-Who-Lived looked upwards at the spectre now in front of him. This was the first good look at him he had gotten. The floating ghost in front of him shone with the other worldly glow that ghosts acquired, had pearl white hair, and the brightest neon green eyes he had even seen. He also looked strangely familiar.

"So, why are you up here when you could be eating lunch?" asked Phantom, curiosity lacing his voice.

"Why do _you_ want to know?" Harry replied, narrowing his eyes at the ghost.

Danny raised an eyebrow. "Because I'm curious and you look like you could rant," he said, while lazily floating in a circle before landing on the ground and sitting in front of Harry.

Harry blinked. This was unusual. "It's nothing. Just Ron and Hermione were bickering. I'm getting tired of it."

"About what?"

"Professor Snape. Ron thinks he can't be trusted and said something like 'poisonous mushrooms don't change their spots', whereas Hermione thinks he is trustworthy and he should have been nice because Snape is in the Or-" Harry stopped himself before he said anymore. He had already said too much. "Never mind. I'm not suppose to talk about it. It's just that they go on and on, they're like an old married couple." Harry huffed, just thinking about it made the anger stir.

"They seem like they would be like that, but I know the feeling," Phantom replied, smiling.

"I doubt you do," Harry scoffed, not realizing the ghost in front of him seemed somewhat familiar with his friends.

"No really, I do. Back at home… I mean when I was alive, I had two of the best friends you could ever ask for. Sam and Tucker. You should have seen some of their fights. Sam is an ultra-recylco-vegetarian, which means she doesn't eat anything that had a face. Tucker is a carnivore basically. They organized two protests overnight when they changed the menu at school to an ultra-recyclo-vegetarian friendly menu." Danny laughed at the thought. "We got into a huge amount of trouble when this lunch lady ghost attacked."

The black haired boy across from him gave him an inquisitive look. "Lunch lady ghost?"

"Erm, yeah. She sensed someone changed the menu and tried to get it changed back. And tried to get Sam to eat meat, but that's off topic. What I'm trying to say is that although you may be caught in the middle of a fight or disagreement between friends, in the end it's not always that bad. They make up." Phantom concluded his story while Harry looked pensive.

"I guess you're right. But it just feels like every other day they're in a row of some sort." Harry sighed. "I can't take it anymore. It drives my absolutely mad."

Phantom just nodded and stayed quiet.

They sat in relative silence for a few minutes.

"How can a ghost attack you?" Harry asked, wondering how it was possible for something that floats through everything to attack you.

"Well, uh…" Phantom stalled, stuck for words. "I'm not really sure how to explain it. I think the ghosts from where I come from are different then the ones here. Peeves can levitate things, as can most of the ghosts back at home. A lot of us can pick things up and touch them, eat if we want to, be destructive if we want to, and so on." Phantom trailed off.

"You can pick things up? And eat?" Harry asked, incredulous. "That's absurd. I went to a Death Day party in my second year and _none_ of the ghosts there could do anything like that. They wished they could, but they _couldn__'__t_. How can _you_?"

"I'm not sure," Phantom said rubbing his head.

The sudden ringing of a bell, signaling the end of lunch, interrupted their conversation.

"I should go now," Phantom said quickly.

"Why?" Harry asked, thrown off by the bell. Where could a ghost have to go?

A rope ladder dropped from above, and several students had made their way up the tower.

"I, um, I'm shy!" Phantom disappeared in front of Harry's eyes. He was there for a moment and then he was gone. Harry shook his head as he climbed up the ladder into darkened room above. The smell of the fire was just as strong and a sickly sweet as ever. He took a seat, waiting for Ron to join him.

Ron was up there not a minute later. The first thing he told Harry was that he and Hermione had stopped fighting. The next was not to take his anger out on them. Harry apologized for that.

"By the way mate, who was it that you were talking to?" Ron asked as the settled in and Danny rushed past them to join Neville.

"That new ghost, uh," he paused. "Phantom." Mentally he cheered himself for remembering.

"Really?" The red head gasped. "What was he like? Did he have fangs?"

Harry laughed. "No Ron, he didn't. He was actually very friendly. But there was something strange about him. We'll have to talk to Hermione about it."

Danny, who had arrived after Ron and was sitting just a seat away, gulped. He really hoped Hermione didn't make anything of it. Really hoped.

Just then, the lights dimmed even more and a misty voice called out. "Welcome back to Divination, my dears."

Class had begun.

...

Danny listened to Dean Thomas explain his dream about a candy eating werewolf as he and Neville flipped through their copies of _The Dream Oracle_.

"Maybe you have a fear of eating too much candy," Neville said finally, flipping between the descriptions on the different pages.

Dean chuckled, "I don't think so, but that's probably the best answer we're going to get." Danny nodded in agreement.

"What about you Danny? Do you remember any of your dreams?" asked Neville.

"Yeah, well sort of." Danny said, looking away. His dreams had lately contained a sinister voice he knew all too well, and he didn't want to think about it. That was in the past.

Neville gave his friend a concerned look, but Danny brushed it off as Professor Trelawney began to speak as class ended.

"Now my dears, dreams are the key to seeing your future. Therefore for the next month I shall be assigning you a dream journal that you are to fill out and interpret. I look forward to seeing what will be in your future," Professor Trelawney stated dreamily as the class started filing out.

Danny groaned. It seemed that the professors just loved to dole out homework. He was three for three in the homework department. An essay from both Muggle Studies and Potions, and now the dream diary.

Slowly, Danny backed down the rope ladder to head to the next class with Neville beside him. They were all heading towards the same place - the Defence Against the Dark Arts classroom.

The young halfa was nervous - this was the only class that could actually require him to use magic. His magic was touch and go and very unpredictable. The spells he used could be overly powerful or extremely weak. If they worked. Danny mentally sighed, he wasn't looking forward to this.

Professor Umbridge was another problem altogether. He had met her before the school year started and they had gotten off to a rocky start. A minor disagreement due to a difference of opinion concerning magical creatures and so called 'half breeds' had lead to a major dispute. In other words - she despised him. Danny didn't see anything wrong with people who were half one thing and half another - he was basically one himself. Umbridge thought otherwise.

Neville was chatting to Hermione who had caught up with them after her Arithmancy class. She was excitedly explaining something she had learnt in class to Neville, who nodded alongm while listening but not really understanding.

The three of them rushed to catch one of the moving staircases that would act as a shortcut towards the DADA classroom. It had taken Danny a while to get used to the moving staircases. In the summer, he was able to cheat a bit by flying, but now he had to make sure he didn't take many risks. If his secret was found out he was completely dead; or worse, dissected molecule by molecule.

As they walked along the corridor Danny felt something become warm around his neck. That was weird. What would do-

_Oh_. The necklace. Danny reached into his robes and pulled the moon necklace that much warmer than normal. It glowed a dim blue from the ruins carved into it.

"Danny, what's that?" Hermione asked curiously, noticing that Danny had stopped walking beside them.

"Oh, uh, nothing. I think I left something in the Divination room. I'll catch you guys later," Danny said, quickly turning around and leaving Neville and Hermione confused in front of the Defence classroom.

"What do you think that was about?" Hermione asked Neville.

"Dunno, but it looked like it was important," Neville shrugged as they walked into the classroom.

"Hmm," Hermione pursed her lips together. Something told her that he hadn't forgotten anything, but she shrugged it off and took her seat. She would have time to think about it later.

...

Danny ran until he found a section of a corridor that was unoccupied and went ghost. It was the quicker route to Dumbledore's office, in his opinion. He didn't have to worry about students, professors, or changing staircases. It was straight up, up, up.

The now ghost boy was soon in front of the large wooden door that lead to Dumbledore's office. He changed back into human - just in case Dumbledore had a guest of some sort - and knocked. The door opened slowly, creaking.

The scene that the doorway now framed was one of familiarity to Danny. Dumbledore was sitting behind his large wooden desk with papers and odd contraptions littering the top of it.

"Come in, my boy," greeted Dumbledore, giving Danny a smile.

Danny walked into the room and towards the chair that was in front of the desk. The door closed behind him.

"You needed to see me Sir?" Danny questioned as he sat in the cushy seat.

"Ah yes," Dumbledore was still smiling. "First of all, how is your first day at Hogwarts?"

"Uhm, it was different. Good, but different," said Danny.

"Excellent, excellent. Lemon Drop?" Danny shook his head no as the Headmaster popped one into his mouth. "Now you are likely wondering why I brought you here," Dumbledore said as Danny nodded. "The Order of which I spoke of earlier this summer has gathered. I would like to introduce them to you, and induct you into the Order," Dumbledore explained.

"W-what? Introduce how? One side of me, or both sides of me?" Danny squeaked, his mind jumping to conclusions. He didn't want _that_ many people to know about him.

"Don't worry my boy, just your ghost half," Dumbledore chuckled. "There are several members who would protest against your joining if they knew your secret."

Danny gave a sigh of relief. Thank Clockwork.

"However, would you be willing to give a small demonstration of your powers?" Dumbledore asked.

"Erm, sure," Danny said.

"Excellent," the Headmaster clapped his hands together. "After dinner please come back to my office. Now, I believe you still have a little time left of class." He handed Danny a piece of paper. "That is a note that will excuse you for the class you missed. Now off you trot."

Suddenly the meeting was over and Danny found himself walking out of the office in a bit of a daze. That was really quick.

Not in a hurry to get back to class, he took the long route to the classroom - walking. While walking through the halls of Hogwarts, Danny reflected upon his meeting with the Headmaster. He was nervous again. The first day of school jitters were now replaced with first impression jitters. The Order was important, and he was to become part of it.

He also had to do a demonstration of his powers. Joy. What should he do? He had an array of moves, but he didn't want to give all his cards away. It was never good to do that as it was easier to pinpoint weaknesses.

He decided to go the basic route. Ectoblasts, shields, and his ice powers. His ghostly wail he would save for some other time. It was a use-in-emergencies only move as it still drained his power reserves greatly. Danny didn't want to change back and faint in front of a large crowd of people. Again.

Danny took his time walking to the classroom. He really did not want to show up and face the impending doom that Professor Umbridge would unleash on him. By the time he dragged his feat to the front door, there was about thirty minutes left of class. To be truthful, he took the long-long way to the DADA classroom. He walked _and _took several longer paths.

He stood there for about thirty more seconds until he knocked on the door and opened it. Stepping into the classroom he felt uneasy. The students looked very unhappy and Umbridge looked furious. Great.

The room was covered in pink. And kittens. Creepy.

"Mr. Fenton, why are you late?" Professor Umbridge nearly shrieked, looking frazzled.

"I had a meeting with Headmaster, Professor Umbridge," Danny said, smiling innocently and holding out the piece of paper.

Umbridge snatched it out of his hand and scanned it quickly. She took out her wand, muttered something - a spell Danny assumed - and tapped the paper. When nothing happened, she scowled. "Take your seat Mr. Fenton. We are reading chapter one." The toad of a women then went back to her desk.

Danny quickly made his way to the empty spot beside Neville.

"Where were you?" Neville whispered to the black haired boy once he had taken his seat.

"I'll tell you later," Danny whispered back, his eyes flicking to where Umbridge now sat, scribbling furiously on a piece of parchment.

Neville, being the understanding person he is, nodded and went back to pretending to read the textbook they had been assigned. Danny copied him, every once and a while looking up from the textbook. The first thing he noticed was that Harry seemed to be absent from the room. That was unusual, he would have to ask Neville what happened later. The second thing he noticed was that Umbridge kept glaring at him. It was just his luck that he happened to give her a reason to hate him more.

Thirty minutes passed very slowly. Slow enough that Danny was about to call foul on Clockwork slowing down time. Danny was just finishing up a doodle of Wulf when the bell finally rang, saving them from the monotonous torture of class.

Students split from the classroom as fast as they could - Danny included. He shuddered. If he had this to look forward to for the rest of the year, he might try and find a way to skip it. He wished that Hogwarts had random ghost attacks. It was unlikely that would ever happen but he could wish for it.

"So, where were you?" Neville repeated his question as soon as they were out of the horribly decorated classroom.

"The Headmaster wanted to see me. On route to the Divination Room I got a message from a student. There's a meeting I have to attend tonight," Danny replied, being purposefully vague.

"Meeting? What for?" Neville asked.

"Just about my transfer and how I'm settling in and so on," Danny said, trying to be vague. It was… kind of true he guessed.

"Oh," said Neville as the rounded a corner and headed down to dinner. The two of them decided that they would go directly to dinner first and drop off their bags later. They were too lazy to bother walking up to Gryffindor Tower right now.

Neville and Danny were some of the first people to sit down for dinner. The pair sat where they had during breakfast.

"Where were you at lunch?" Neville asked, curious as to where his new friend kept disappearing. It seemed to be a common occurrence.

"I got lost. Again," Danny muttered.

Neville chuckled. "That happens a lot, doesn't it? You should get a map of the castle."

"Yeah, maybe," Danny gave a weak smile, hating how he had to keep lying.

Students started filling the Hall and accompanying them was the sound of benches being moved and chattering that filled the large Hall comfortably.

"What happened in Defence Against the Dark Arts today Neville? Why wasn't Harry there?" Danny questioned as the Gryffindor table started to gain more and more students.

"It was horrible Danny," groaned Neville. "Umbridge went on about how we didn't need to use magic in class and only theory was needed. Harry and Hermione got upset, asking what good could theory do if we were attacked. Umbridge insisted that we wouldn't be attacked and that there was nothing to fear. Harry brought up You-Know-Who. Professor Umbridge was furious. She gave Harry a weeks worth of detention." Neville looked stormy, while giving the shortened version of what happened. "The Ministry does nothing. They are ignorant to the threat of You-Know-Who because they don't want to believe anything is wrong in their perfect world. I can't imagine how Harry is feeling."

Danny nodded in agreement. Neville's personal insight to the situation was appreciated, and it was clear he was one of the few that believed in Harry.

"Eventually, Harry was sent to see Professor McGonagall." Neville finished his story as Parvati Patil sat across from them.

Around the Hall, the Harry versus Umbridge battle was the hottest piece of gossip around Hogwarts right now. What had happened between them had brought up many subjects that were shrouded in mystery to most of the student body. Cedric Diggory, Voldemort, and the events that occurred at the end of the school year. All of which were debatable.

As soon as Harry stepped into the Great Hall the whispers grew louder.

Harry, Ron, and Hermione sat down to eat near Danny and Neville, but didn't talk much compared to the people around them who talked too much. The other students seemed to think that if they talked loudly about sore subjects around Harry that he would yell back and tell them what happened during the last Tri-Wizard event.

It just pissed Harry off.

Harry tried to concentrate on getting through dinner without making some sort of dramatic exit. It was an extremely arduous task. He despised the people around him that tried to goad him into telling what happened. He didn't want to be reminded every day that Cedric Diggory died and Voldemort returned because of him.

Harry gritted his teeth and bared it. It was what he had done thus far in his life when something like this had happened, and it was what he would do now.

Eventually Hermione dragged him out of there, trying to explain why no one would believe Dumbledore now, even if they had last summer.

The last thing he really took notice of was the new transfer student looking at him. It wasn't a look of pity, thankfully, but a look of determination. Harry found himself wondering why Danny had looked at him like that, but it didn't really matter. He was already out of the Great Hall.

...

After dinner was over, and Danny had dropped off his book bag in dorm and said goodbye to Neville, he headed back up to the Headmaster's office. Danny was nervous so instead of flying up, he walked. He hated meeting new people; they had a tendency to shoot at him with something painful.

The corridors of Hogwarts were peacefully quiet, missing the chaotic atmosphere they had during the day. As it was close to curfew, Danny passed very few students and the few he did were rushing off to their respective dorms or the library. He turned a corner and headed up one of the many staircases Hogwarts possessed, thankfully at this time it was non-moving.

He ducked behind a tapestry that held a hidden staircase. He skipped the eighth step - your foot sank into it if you weren't careful - and slipped from behind an identical tapestry two floors up. That was one of Danny's favourite things about the castle. It had plenty of hidden staircases, passageways, and rooms. The more he explored the more he discovered.

It was all too soon that Danny arrived in front of the statue that led to the Headmaster's office. He wondered if he should bother using the password and use the statue's entrance or just float up through the floor. He shook his head, what did it matter?

"Blood Lollies."

The statue slid aside and - wait, did it just wink at him? Danny quickly hopped onto the now spiralling staircase. The top of the staircase led into a small room. This small room was nothing spectacular, in fact nothing occupied it save the doorway to the staircase and the doorway to the Headmaster's office.

Danny stepped towards the door and knocked to the tune of 'shave and a hair cut'. The door opened and Danny stepped inside.

For once Dumbledore wasn't behind his desk, Danny noticed. Actually, he didn't appear to be in the room at all. Danny looked to the chair near Dumbledore's desk where guests and visitors usually sat. He _could_ sit down, and wait for Dumbledore to make an appearance. That would be the right thing to do. Or he could _explore_.

Danny grinned mischievously and started looking around the office poking and prodding things that looked interesting.

"I say boy, what do you think you're doing?" Danny flinched at the noise. He had forgotten about the paintings.

"Nothing, Sir. Just inspecting the place." Danny explained. The painting glared at him. Danny huffed and went over to the armchair to sit down. Damn those paintings. Not a moment after he had sat down did Dumbledore make his grand entrance from the stairwell that spiralled above the office.

"Good evening Danny," Dumbledore greeted as he descended the stairs.

"Evening Headmaster," Danny muttered, put out by the fact his exploring was cut off and that he had to meet a secret group, at night, in a secret meeting place. '_Oh Clockwork, this is beginning to sound like a cult,_' Danny thought.

"We should be going soon, so ah," Dumbledore looked at the still human boy in front of him. "You should change."

Danny looked at him for a moment, confused, until it clicked and his mouth formed a round 'oh' shape.

"I'm going ghost," he said, standing up as the rings of neo blue engulfed his body. His school uniform was replaced with the black and white jumpsuit, his eyes changing from bright blue to neon green, and last but not least, his hair lost its colour and shifted from black to white.

"So, how're we getting to wherever we are going?" Danny asked after his change was complete.

Dumbledore shook his head in wonder at the unique abilities this boy possessed. "First of all, I would like you to read this and then destroy it." He held a piece of paper out to the boy.

_The Headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix can be found at Number Twelve Grimmauld place, London._

Danny re-read the paper. Okay, maybe he wasn't getting something. Why was this important? He destroyed the piece of paper and raised an eyebrow at Dumbledore.

"It's to allow you past the wards that protect Headquarters. Only a secret keeper can divulge the location." Dumbledore gave a short explanation. Danny shrugged, he sort of got it. "Now, the quickest way would be to Floo directly into the house, but I fear that may cause a rather loud and unnecessary ruckus. To the Leaky Cauldron then." Dumbledore grabbed a small leather pouch that sat next to the fireplace.

"Floo?" queried Danny, not liking the sound of that. He floated anxiously behind Dumbledore.

"It's a magical way of travel," the Headmaster happily told the halfa. "Just throw a handful this into the fire and say the location you wish to be."

"B-but I'm a ghost. People will panic at the sight of me! If it even works. Do you know it will work?" His voice broke on that last question. He really, _really _didn't like the sound of this.

"I believe it will work with you since you are corporal, and therefore you are able to be placed from one fireplace to another," Dumbledore explained - logically Danny had to admit. "Also, didn't you say one of your ghost powers was invisibility? That should do the trick, right?"

"I-I guess."

"Excellent. Now grab a handful of powder and step into the hearth. No floating - make sure your feet are touching the ground." Danny followed the instructions, his head playing a funeral march. He wondered if things went wrong would they even find a body? Or maybe it would just be a pile of ectoplasm. Maybe nothing. Danny gulped.

"Throw down the powder and say your destination clearly."

The ghost boy said a silent prayer as he threw the powder down and merry green flames rose up around him. "L-leaky Cauldron."

And he was gone.

The trip to the Leaky Cauldron would be one Danny would never forget. The spinning sensation was worse than one of the flight simulators they had at NASA. He saw glimpses of things, but it was too blurry to make anything out. He was going to hurl if this continued on much longer. The spinning sensation slowed down. Slower, slower, slo-

Stopped. Danny felt himself lose balance and trip over the other hearth, turning invisible in the process. His mind felt like a martini - stirred, not shaken. He was barely able to stay ghost, let alone invisible. Why hadn't Dumbledore asked him to change after they got here?

"Because it would look rather strange to see a student off of school grounds no matter the circumstances," Dumbledore's voice said quietly from behind him. It took all of Danny's will power not to shout and blast Dumbledore away. People _had_ to stop doing that to him. One day he was going to kill someone by accident.

Dumbledore started walking towards the door - the one that lead to Muggle London - and motioned for Danny to grab a hold. As Danny did, a small shiver ran down Dumbledore's back. Ghosts - not matter the type apparently - gave him the chills.

Once they we're out of the Leaky Cauldron and into an abandoned alleyway Dumbledore quietly whispered to Danny, "hold on tight."

Danny held on for dear life as his body felt like it was trapped and pulled through the Fenton Thermos.

Danny reappeared on a sidewalk in a different area. He floated down to the ground, on his hands and knees, his head spinning.

"A-are you trying to fully kill me?" Danny exclaimed, glaring at the Headmaster.

"I apologize, but it was the quickest way here," said Headmaster smiled. "I am glad that everything went smoothly."

"You mean something could have gone wrong?" Danny squeaked, horrified at the prospect.

"It was a minimal chance, now come a long. We are already late to the meeting," Dumbledore brushed off his concerns as he walked towards the small building in front of them.

Sullenly, Danny floated behind him. There was no point in arguing or complaining at this point, since they were here and all, but he was not looking forward to the trip home. Not remotely.

Dumbledore stopped suddenly - suddenly to Danny anyway, as he wasn't paying attention - and Danny floated right into him. By then, Dumbledore had pulled out his wand and tapped the door. The ghost boy could hear the clicking sound of locks unlocking. The door opened a bit with a groan. The Headmaster pushed the door fully open and walked inside with Danny following.

As he walked in the hall, Dumbledore turned his head towards the floating boy and put his index finger on his lips, silently telling Danny to be quiet. Danny nodded to affirm he got the message. The crept quietly in the hall, walking past a few doors before stopping in front of one.

"Danny my boy, if you don't mind, would you please go invisible for now?" Dumbledore asked, in a hushed voice.

Danny smiled and disappeared from Dumbledore's sight.

As Dumbledore knocked on the door, Danny looked around the house. It was grim, and not well kept. There was a painting covered by a sheet, which was the only thing that adorned the wall until you got near the staircase. Danny felt himself go a bit green at the sight of what looked like small elf heads nailed to the wall. Too many heads. He really started to wonder who lived here at this point.

"Ah, Dumbledore," the man at the door said, shaking the older wizard's hand. "We've just started."

"Sirius," was all the Headmaster said in greeting. Something clicked in Danny's head. He had heard that name before. The man - Sirius - moved out of the way to let Dumbledore in. Danny floated behind him, quietly trying not to make his presence known.

Everyone's heads turned as Dumbledore entered the room. Some looked relieved, others looked even more troubled. The air in the room was heavy with tension as Dumbledore walked to the head of the table and sat down in the chair that rested there.

"I apologize for being late," were the first worlds out of Dumbledore's mouth. "I just had to pick up a few things."

"It's quite alright Headmaster," Molly Weasley said, her usually kind smile slightly strained. A moment of silence followed.

"Well," a loud, gruff voice said from down the table, "what have you called us here for Dumbledore? Must have a pretty damn good reason for calling us all here at once." Mad Eye Moody pounded the table and Kingsley made a noise of agreement. Everyone looked at Dumbledore looking for an explanation.

"Tonight I have brought the Order together to induct a new member," Dumbledore began, getting right to the point.

The looks of the slight shock mixed with disbelief were to be expected. It was rare that the Order ever got an actual new member. They had many alliances and informants, but their true member count was low. Not many people wanted to be that strongly linked with one side or the other. Just in case that side lost.

"At first you may not believe me, but I ask you to trust me. He is rather unique," he continued, unsure of how to described Phantom. "It would be best for me to introduce him. Please keep an open mind and don't be alarmed. Phantom, if you please." A few people raised an eyebrow at this, along with a couple glances. Most of the glances were of the 'is he crazy?' variety.

Danny swallowed his fear - or at least tried to, it felt like it got lodged in his throat - and became visible. Nine wands were pointed at him on the spot, the rest were in hand and on the ready.

"Not _again_," Danny covered his head and went intangible. Danny really didn't know what good covering his head would do at this point, but it seemed like a good idea.

"What is that?"

"Who is that?"

"Why is he floating?"

"Is that an American accent?"

Questions fluttered about as Dumbledore called for order, and Danny stayed intangible. When in doubt, go intangible. That was one of the life lessons he had learnt while ghost fighting.

"Silence!" Dumbledore's voice echoed through the small room, and everyone quickly quieted. "This is who I was talking about - Phantom," he gestured to the boy, "and I assume he would appreciate it if you lowered your wands." The ghost boy gave a nervous chuckle as the wands were lowered but not put away.

"Dumbledore, what _is_ he?" Moody spat out, his magical eye fixed on the unusual boy.

"_He _can hear and speak," Danny muttered.

Dumbledore smiled faintly at Danny and cleared his throat, "as I said this is Phantom. He is a unique variation of ghost. We stumbled upon him during the summer and he has agreed to help us."

"A ghost? He hardly looks or behaves like a ghost," Tonks stated the obvious. "Aren't they all pale blue coloured and see-through like he was a moment ago? Not colourful?"

"And," Moody butted in, "he's left his haunt which is near impossible for ghosts."

"What's a haunt?" Danny asked, while the wizards and witches in the room looked incredulously at the boy. "What? What did I say?"

"Boy," Moody growled, "a haunt is a ghost's home. They can't leave it. At least not easily and not without a lot of help and power."

"Oh."

"Phantom has abilities readily at his disposal that would be difficult for us to use," Dumbledore said, changing the topic getting the meeting back on track. "He can go through walls, turn invisible, and has several attacks and shields that can decently block spells. Phantom is willing to helps us and spy for us. He is an invaluable asset to our side. We need him."

Sirius, who had been rather quiet until now, finally decided to speak up. "Can we trust him?"

"Yes," Dumbledore said with absolute conviction.

"How do you know?" Arthur Weasley asked, eyeing the ghost uncertainly.

"I have a guarantee from a rather powerful universal being. I cannot name names, but I ask of you to trust me completely," Dumbledore said.

There were a few uncertain nods, but mostly just silence.

"I'll trust him when he proves his worth to us," Moody said. "Constant vigilance!"

"Now, Alastor," Dumbledore began.

"Don't you 'Now Alastor' me, Albus," Moody shook a finger at the old wizard.

"Yes, I'm rather inclined to agree with Mad Eye in this case Dumbledore," Kingsley interjected.

Sirius was on the fence, as were Molly, Arthur, and Lupin. They wanted to believe in Dumbledore, but this character was rather far-fetched. Tonks seemed to trust completely in Dumbledore and had now approached Phantom and started inspecting him closely. The poor ghost boy looked as if he'd rather be anywhere else.

"So," Dumbledore clasped his hands together, "are there any questions?"

"My dear, how old are, well, were you when you…" She trailed off, not wanting to say the word as if it would offend him. "You just look so young."

Phantom looked at her oddly, as if that was an odd question. "Uhm, I was fourteen I guess," Danny replied trying to be honest.

"You poor dear!" her face contorted with grief at the prospect of someone dying so young.

"It's okay, it's not so bad or anything. I mean the random attacks from the," Danny choked on his words a little when he saw 'Mad Eye' glare at him suspiciously. "Uh, random attacks from my memories. Just a tad painful you know. B-but it's really not that bad. Plus it comes with a wicked set of powers." Danny said, quickly changing the topic.

"Really? What can you do?" asked Tonks as she circled around Phantom.

"Uhm, invisibility, intangibility, ectoblasts, shields, uh some ice powers. Just basic stuff, really. I keep discovering new ab-"

Danny felt someone prod his side and yelped as he whipped around.

"I can touch you," Tonks said, surprised that her finger hadn't gone through him.

"Well of course you can! I said I had the power of intangibility, hence why I'm not intangible all the time," Danny said, slightly annoyed. He hated being prodded.

"What do you mean by ectoblasts?" Remus Lupin asked, curious. "Also the ice powers."

"It's an attack of sorts. It comprised of ectoplasm which is what most ghosts are made of," Phantom explained as he turned around to face the man. "Ice powers are kind of self explanatory."

"Can you show us?" Sirius asked, somewhat excited. This was something new! Not something that was part of the damn house, nor just a report from the outside world. This was something that he could see himself.

Phantom looked at Dumbledore, who nodded. "Just be quick, we should head back to the school soon."

"Okay. First of all, is there something you don't mind getting destroyed?" Danny asked, searching the room. "Like a plate, or plant, or object that is destroyable."

Sirius stood up suddenly, and exited the room. He was back not a moment later, his hands full of things.

"Here's an ugly plate my dear old mum loved, an old shoe of my dad's that Kreacher was keeping, and a warped mirror," Sirius explained as he laid the items out. "I would've brought Kreacher, but I don't think several people would approve," he muttered.

"Uh, thanks," Phantom said, unsure of who this 'Creature' was. "Does anyone mind tossing the plate?" He asked as he backed up a bit too make sure he had more room to move around in.

Tonks volunteered. She threw the plate up high enough to be safely over everyone's head yet low enough not to hit the ceiling.

In an instant Danny had the ectoblast ready, and fired the green ball of energy. The plate broke into many piece instantly. "That was an ectoblast. Low powered. I can usually control the amount of energy I put into them." He floated to the items on the table and selected the mirror. Instead of glowing green, his hands were glowing blue and his eyes changed colour to ice blue. In an instant the mirror froze, and the room temperature seemed to drop. Danny dropped the mirror on the table as his eyes changed back. The mirror shattered. "That was my ice power."

"That's so bloody amazing," Tonks said and Phantom smiled and blushed a bit.

"It's not that cool." Internally, however, Danny was pleased. "About the shields, I'm not sure how they stand up to magic. Should we try this now, or later?" He questioned Dumbledore.

Dumbledore pondered for a moment. "I believe now would be the best time. Sirius, is there a room you don't mind being destroyed. In a worse case scenario that is," he hastily added at the look everyone was giving him.

"Erm, yes sir. I do have a room upstairs. Mother's old room. Uninhabitable that one is," Sirius muttered as he stood up and motioned for everyone to follow. They all soon followed Sirius as he ascended the stairs and wove his way throughout the house.

On the second to last floor, they entered a large dark room that had a strong smell of decay. The house itself was in fine condition due to the many spells laid upon it to keep it in decent condition; the possessions in the room were another story. Anything made of cloth was slowly fading and wearing away, no matter how valiant Kreacher's attempt to keep everything in usable condition. The couch in the room was moth-eaten and the vanity in the corner was dust free, but the mirror was broken and the handle to open the drawer was missing.

Sirius huffed at the sight of his late mother's room. "I don't care what you break, as long as you don't destroy the house."

"Duly noted, Sirius. Thank you," Dumbledore said as he moved to the center of the room, Phantom floating behind him. Everyone else stayed near the entrance, just in case something did go wrong.

Phantom looked around the room nervously. He didn't know how wrong things could go, but hopefully they would go right.

"Phantom you shield please," Dumbledore reminded the boy.

"Oh, uh. Right," Danny said as he gathered the energy in his hands and spread it outwards to for the dome like shield. It had held up against mounds of concrete, what could magic do?

"I will use a stunning spell," Dumbledore said, warning Phantom as he drew his wand and aimed at the boy. "_Stupefy_."

A red beam of light shot out of Dumbledore's wand and collided with the green shield which flickered in and out a existence for a moment. There was only a split second where it had disappeared, but it had.

Phantom groaned. His shields could barely hold up against the magic. What would happen if multiple spells were shot at him?

"I think we may have to do some testing," Dumbledore said thoughtfully, as if reading his mind. "Lupin?"

"Yes sir?" The werewolf stepped forward from the doorway.

"Cast _stupefy_ at Phantom's shield with me," requested the older wizard and Lupin nodded.

"Three, two, one," he counted down.

"_Stupefy!_"

The two spells collided with the shield at the same time, and the same reaction occurred except the time before the shield reappeared increased to about three seconds.

"It looks like it would be wise not to rely on your shield when faced magic, Phantom," Dumbledore concluded.

"You've got to be kidding me," Phantom sighed and looked at his hands. Then a thought occurred to him, "what happens if a spell hits me when I'm _not_ intangible?"

"I am not entirely sure," Dumbledore shrugged not really wanting to dwell on the topic with others around just in case the situation turned disastrous. "It is getting late in the evening and we should return to Hogwarts."

"I guess so," Phantom replied, looking troubled as Dumbledore headed towards the door while Kingsley chatted to him about some of the Ministry happenings.

"So, are you from the United States?" A voice asked beside the ghost boy. Phantom turned to see Sirius Black waiting with him in the room, motioning to him to follow the others.

"Yeah, I am." He replied, not sure where this was going.

"That's brilliant. States was one of my favourite places to hide in the past year or so," Sirius grinned. "Where from?"

"Amity Park," at Sirius' blank look he elaborated. "It's near Wisconsin."

"Ah, the central states, didn't spend much time there. I liked the south states, where it was warm and sunny. Unlike the depressing weather we have here. Bloody rain," Sirius chattered quietly at the descended the stairs with Danny half paying attention. When they walked past the covered portrait, Danny interrupted Sirius' rant about rumours of a nest of vampires in southern Louisiana.

"Why is that portrait covered," Danny whispered to him. Sirius tilted his head to the side as if he had asked an odd question.

"That's my old mum's portrait, the hag. Yells at everyone and anything if we wake her up. So, we just cover it to make it less likely she'll notice us. It works for the most part, unless someone makes a racket," the ex-convict said with a look of great distaste on his face.

"Why don't you just take it down?" Phantom asked.

"She put a spell on it to make sure it would stick there. Eventually it'll wear off. Maybe. We can hope," Sirius looked unhappy at the prospect of having to live with the portrait for much longer.

"Oh." Danny didn't really know how to reply to that.

"Phantom," he heard his name whispered loudly from the front door. Danny looked up. Professor Dumbledore was waiting for him, apparently everyone had finished with their reports. He flew to the front door, weaving his way around Arthur and Molly Weasley rather than go through them. He didn't want to take the chance that he might accidentally overshadow them. Danny didn't know what would happen if he overshadowed a witch or wizard. He might just have to experiment later.

"I bid you all a goodnight, and a safe trip on your next mission," Dumbledore's face was deadly serious as everyone gave a sharp nod of their heads. Danny just waved and said good bye. The odd pair then walked down the steps and out onto the sidewalk as the door closed behind them.

"So, how are we getting back?" Danny asked, praying to every sort of deity he knew that it wouldn't be the same way they came.

"In this case, rather than flooing into Hogwarts we will be apparating directly to Hogsmeade. Unfortunately we have lingered too long to be able to floo back into my office," explained Dumbledore as the turned the corner. "Ah time, it slips by so easily."

"Why can't we floo back to your office?" Danny wondered aloud.

"I have it set to shut down when I'm out of the school for long periods of time. I could open it again, but that would take some time and it would be quicker this time to apparate," Dumbledore said.

Dumbledore looked around the street and then ducked into an alleyway. Another quick look around, making sure no one was lurking in it, and he deemed it to be deserted. He grabbed the arm of the floating boy in front of him and, with a loud crack, disapparated.

Danny felt like he was going to be sick as he felt like he was pulled through a tube. The feeling lasted less than a few seconds, but Danny hated it all the same. He would take being caught in the Fenton Thermos over this.

Danny breathed a sigh of relief when the distant lights of Hogsmeade village stopped spinning. He floated after Dumbledore, who had started waking as soon as they had arrived.

"How are you going to get through the gates?" Danny asked.

"I am Headmaster of Hogwarts Danny," Dumbledore said amused as they neared the path towards Hogwarts. "It does allow me to come and go as I please. Within reason of course."

"Ah, I guess that makes sense," Danny flushed at the rather obvious answer.

The walk to the school gates was a quiet one. The path was empty, and the air was filled with the sounds of insects and magical creatures from the forest surrounding the area.

Danny flew higher into the night sky, until he was about level with the tops of the trees. Floating on his back, he looked up towards the waning moon. Everything was so strange and different here, except the stars and the moon. Sure, they may have entirely different meanings in the magical world, but the existed the same way they did back at home. The ghost boy laughed at himself. He was already homesick on his first day. How was he going to last the entire year?

Dumbledore's voice calling him broke him out of his musings. He flew back down to the path and joined up with the old wizard.

The gates of Hogwarts were massive - both height and width. Fancy looking and imposing, the gates hummed with magic. The wards and enchantments on them were powerful protections, making sure everything on the outside stayed that way, while everything on the inside was kept in.

Dumbledore took a few steps forward and put his hand on the gate while whispering to it. Danny wondered if he was casting a spell of some sort or if it was like a password. The wards shimmered, and Danny could feel the spells shifting as the gates started to creak.

Instead of the large gates opening, like Danny had suspected them to, a small hole in the gate appeared. At Dumbledore's insistence, he went ahead of the Headmaster who soon followed. Dumbledore then closed the gate and they were on their way towards Hogwarts.

"I am sure that you must be exhausted from tonight's activities," Dumbledore said, breaking the comfortable silence the two had developed between them.

Danny shrugged noncommittally. He was tired, but that didn't really matter too much if Dumbledore wanted to talk or something.

"I can see it on your face," Dumbledore smiled softly. It was getting late, and the boy had had a rather taxing first day. "I can manage the walk back to Hogwarts by myself. You should head up to Gryffindor Tower and get some rest."

"'Kay," Danny yawned, as stretched in the air. "Good night Headmaster."

"Good night Mr. Fenton."

Danny was off and into the air, quickly soaring towards Gryffindor Tower. He wished he could've just flown into the dorm and changed there, but unfortunately that would lead to many questions from his housemates, as they were sure to notice.

Halfway through his journey towards the Gryffindor Tower Danny turned invisible. At this time of night there really wasn't a reason to be invisible, but Danny felt more comfortable this way. He spotted the portrait of the Fat Lady and looked around for a place to change back to human. There was a small space behind a statue that looked just about the right size.

Danny dropped to the ground and stumbled behind the statue. Neon blue rings formed around him as he switched from Phantom to Fenton. Another yawn slipped through his mouth as the walked out from behind the statue and down a small flight of stairs to the portrait.

He mumbled the password before the Fat Lady even got a syllable passed her lips, and pushed pass the swinging portrait door. He entered the cheery common room and looked around. It was mainly deserted with the exception of a few seventh years finishing up their homework and several of his classmates - specifically Harry, Ron, and Hermione.

Some part of his brain that wasn't fogged over with sleep wondered why they were up at this hour, but he didn't care. He waved before heading up to the dorms. Danny opened the door quietly, so as not to wake anyone who was sleeping, and crept to his bed. He quickly changed and collapsed on his four poster bed. Soon he was dead to world - metaphorically of course.

Down below, a conversation that had been briefly interrupted continued in quiet, soft spoken voices.

"I'm telling you guys, this Phantom ghost is nothing like we've seen before," Harry whispered, concluding their discussion on the matter. "There is something off about him, and I just can't put my finger on it." The trio looked at each other and nodded.

The three of them all vowed to figure out what was so unusual about Hogwarts' newest specter.

...

A/N: H-hello everyone. I, uh, well I just wanted to let you all know that this isn't dead. Nor am I for that matter. Even though a year and a half has now passed (for which I am deeply sorry for). Inspiration was nowhere to be found… until I watched and episode of Danny Phantom recently. It sparked whatever inspired me to write this to ignite again. I can't promise regular updates, but I can try not to let another year and a half pass without so much as a word from me. Next likely update would be late August/September as July is pretty booked. Otakon! Honestly, I can't believe it's been that long. In this period of time I have graduated high school, gotten a job, applied and got accepted into university (which I start this fall!), and grew up (somewhat… it's debatable).

What I am trying to say: To all of you who continued to read this story, favourite it, alert it, and think about it, I'm sorry for being such a bad fic-writer. Thank you for sticking with me thus far. Thank you. (Also to my Beta, Susie! Who has stuck with me thus far!)

-TheAcornSnake.


	10. An Interlude To Amity Park

_Disclaimer - _I am in no way making any money off of this. This is done purely out of enjoyment. All characters from Danny Phantom belong to Butch Hartman and Nickelodeon respectively; as do all characters from Harry Potter belong to J. K. Rowling.

Chapter 10

It was a bright and sunny morning in Amity Park, with song birds singing and teenagers all across town groaning into their pillows, sleepily hitting the snooze button on their alarm clocks for just five more minutes of sleep – except one.

Jazz was up and about, after her mother but before her father, working on an essay that was due at the end of the school year – which had only just begun. Jazz was a keener, if nothing else. But she was more than that. Jazz was a scholar, a worrier, a secret keeper, and, above all, a big sister. All of these were, at least in part, entwined with her little brother. Life around Amity Park was sure quiet without him around. She missed him.

A small shriek from the front door roused her from her sadness. She stood up from her chair rapidly, the chair almost falling backwards from the force of it.

"Mom?" She called out as she rushed to the front door to see what had surprised her mother.

"Sweetie, look! It's a letter from your brother." Maddie Fenton was waving a rather thick envelope in the air.

"It looks more like a novel than a letter," Jazz said, looking at the thick parchment.

Opening the letter, Jazz and Maddie began to read the adventure it contained.

_Dear Mom, Dad, and Jazz,_

_School is school._

_Love,_

_Danny_

_(Just kidding!)_

_England is very different from Amity Park, but is no less strange! Well, Scotland. I haven't seen much of England._

_The school is a large, old castle. No electricity! Tucker would think he was trapped in a nightmare. However, because of this, the school work is different from back home. There is more hands-on teaching involved, and it can be either very boring or very interesting. One class, DADA, is a total snore fest and the professor is even worse._

_One of my electives has to do with gardening and the properties of plants and is amazing and so much more interesting. Neville, a friend, is absolutely brilliant – see what I did there? – at the subject._

_Speaking of friends, I've made a few. Neville and I hang out the most. He's shy and kind of awkward, but is honest and really interesting to listen to. Then there's these other three, Harry, Ron, and Hermione, and I'm sort of friends with them? I'm not too sure. They're a pretty tight trio. The remind me somewhat of what Sam, Tucker, and I are like. I eat with them a lot, and talk to them in class every once and a while._

_My first week went very well, I'm learning tons of new things._

_Love you lots,_

_Danny_

_P.S. There are ghosts here, but nothing like the ones at home. They can't touch anything and just float around. Like an echo. It's weird, but nice not to have something violent and dangerous around._

_P.P.S There's a letter for Tucker and Sam and one specifically for Jazz in here. Please pass them on._

Jazz plucked her letter out of her mom's hands and tucked it underneath her arm.

"I wish he had told us more about the school," Maddie murmured underneath her breath, worried about his health. How was he eating? How was he sleeping? Did he have a warm enough sweater? "But ghosts! Who would have thought. I guess that we'll have to send him some tech, eh Jazz?" Silence greeted her. "Jazz?" Looking up, Maddie peered around the room. Her daughter was nowhere in sight. Sighing, Maddie shook her head and made her way to the lab, mentally making a list of what to send Danny.

–

Elsewhere, a very different scene was taking place that morning.

"So," a growling voice began, "Where is he?" A fist slammed into the table, frustration filled the room.

Also filling the room were three people besides the owner of the growling voice. Well, sort of people. Ghosts really, if you want to get technical.

Skulker was looking surly – he was the best hunter in the ghost zone and still he had yet to hear anything of the whelp, this was especially maddening considering usually he heard too much of him. His response to the outburst of Vlad Plasmius was a simple shake of his mechanical head and a shoulder shrug.

Floating back and forth as if pacing, Walker looked just as angry as Vlad. He too had had no luck locating the young halfa. He had even captured that ghost wolf in an attempt to track him down, but that had proved fruitless. Wulf had been uncooperative. He expected no less from such a beast of a ghost, but nonetheless he was frustrated.

The third and only female occupant of the room sighed, rolled her eyes at the childish attitude of her temporary employer, and continued to tap her claw-like fingernails against the wooden armrest of her chair. It wasn't that Spectra didn't care per se; of course she, like so many others, wanted revenge on the half-wit half ghost boy, but the effort that everyone was putting into this search was ridiculous. She was more content to wait and see – news would eventually circle around of his whereabouts. His exploits were highly recognizable and word of them tended to travel through the Ghost Zone quickly.

Vlad swivelled in his chair to face his fireplace rather than the three incompetent ghosts under his command. Where was the little badger?

The first few times he executed a plan in Amity Park and was only met with resistance from Valarie, he brushed it off. It was what he set her up for, after all. When it continued to be almost exclusively Valarie foiling his schemes (every once in a while he observed Daniel's little friends and his sister aiding her) he started to wonder where Daniel was.

He then contacted the Fentons, his window into Daniel's life. Thankfully Jack picked up, and he went through the routine questions – just checking in, how are you, still married? – that sort of thing. Finally swinging the conversation around to Jack's children and away from ghosts, which Jack always managed to bring up no matter the original topic, Jack imparted an interesting morsel of information. Danny had been offered a position at a boarding school. Unfortunately, after this tidbit was divulged Jack had been called away and hung up.

Using his wealth and influence in the business world, he had checked out the local boarding schools. When that yielded nothing, Vlad turned to his other, less legal, influences to check out the majority of the boarding schools in the country, and even a few in Canada.

Nothing had turned up. Not a single whisper of Daniel Fenton's name anywhere. And for that wasted effort, Vlad was furious.

"Let's just wait," Spectra's voice called from behind him. He swivelled around to face her again. "He's not the most subtle of creatures, he's too much of a hero not to do anything when the time comes. Ghosts, after all, are notorious for gossiping," she flashed Vlad a predatory grin.

Sighing, Vlad rubbed his temple with sudden weariness. As much as he hated to admit it, Spectra made a good point, one that had crossed his mind – it might be better to simply wait for news of the boy rather than continue to actively seek him out.

Vlad nodded finally, in silent agreement, and stood up.

"If you hear anything, anything at all, report back to me immediately. For now, we'll do as Spectra suggests and… wait. If nothing turns up, we'll continue to search for the boy again at a later date."

The three in the room nodded their assent.

"Now, go away. I have other matters to attend to."

Skulker shrugged his shoulders at Walker and left, Walker tailing behind him. Spectra glared at Vlad for his disrespectful dismissal, but went quietly on her way as well.

"Where are you Daniel?" Vlad mused aloud, scowling at the sky as if it held all the answers that he wanted. That he needed.

The sky, unsurprisingly, did not answer.

* * *

Hurk. Hello. It's me. Your friendly, hopeless, author.

Explanation? Life got busy. I know it's kind of a weak explanation, but it's really all I can say. School and work drained me, continue to drain me, that kind of thing. And having my computer wiped of everything from the past 3 and a half years slightly destroyed my soul.

But. I am here! I want to thank everyone who has read this story and stuck with it. I know what it's like for a fic not to update for ages on end - it sucks, and eventually you start to lose hope, and it's a terrible mish-mash of feelings. So, to everyone who is reading this story and continues to do so, thank you. Thank you so much, and I'm so very sorry that it's taken me this long to get on the wheel again. ((Thanks to my Twiny for beta-ing!))


End file.
